Abstract
We examined the effects of lower limb segmental muscle vibration (SMV) on intracortical and spinal excitability in 13 healthy participants (mean age: 34.9 ± 7.8 years, 12 males, 1 female). SMV at 30 Hz was applied to the hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles for 5 min. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols were used to investigate motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and short-interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) from the abductor hallucis muscle (AbdH). These assessments were compared to the results of a control experiment (i.e., non-vibration) in the same participants. F-waves were evaluated from the AbdH on the right (vibration side) and left (non-vibration side) sides, and we calculated the ratio of the F-wave amplitude to the M-response amplitude (F/M ratio). These assessments were obtained before, immediately after, and 10, 20, and 30 min after SMV. For SICI, there was no change immediately after SMV, but there was a decrease over time (before vs. 30 min after, p = 0.021; immediately after vs. 30 min after, p = 0.015). There were no changes in test MEP amplitude, SICF, or the F/M ratio. SMV causes a gradual decrease in SICI over time perhaps owing to long-term potentiation. The present results may have implications for the treatment of spasticity.
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Data availability
Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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KM and SE conceived and designed the experiments. KM, SE, KK, AM and TK collected the data, and KM, SE and AM analyzed the data. KM wrote the manuscript, and SE, KK, AO and MS reviewed and revised the manuscript. All the authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
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Communicated by Winston D Byblow.
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Miyara, K., Etoh, S., Kawamura, K. et al. Effects of lower limb segmental muscle vibration on primary motor cortex short-latency intracortical inhibition and spinal excitability in healthy humans. Exp Brain Res 240, 311–320 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06257-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06257-8