Abstract
Motor practice elicits use-dependent plasticity in humans as well as in animals. Given the influence of cholinergic neurotransmission on learning and memory processes, we evaluated the effects of scopolamine (a muscarinic receptor antagonist) on use-dependent plasticity and corticomotor excitability in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized design study. Use-dependent plasticity was substantially attenuated by scopolamine in the absence of global changes in corticomotor excitability. These results identify a facilitatory role for cholinergic influences in use-dependent plasticity in the human motor system.
Publication types
-
Clinical Trial
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
MeSH terms
-
Administration, Cutaneous
-
Cholinergic Fibers / drug effects
-
Cholinergic Fibers / physiology*
-
Double-Blind Method
-
Electric Stimulation / instrumentation
-
Electric Stimulation / methods
-
Electromyography
-
Evoked Potentials, Motor / drug effects
-
Evoked Potentials, Motor / physiology
-
Humans
-
Magnetics
-
Motor Cortex / drug effects
-
Motor Cortex / physiology
-
Movement / drug effects
-
Movement / physiology
-
Muscarinic Antagonists / administration & dosage*
-
Muscle, Skeletal / innervation
-
Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
-
Neuronal Plasticity / drug effects*
-
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
-
Scopolamine / administration & dosage*
-
Sensory Thresholds / drug effects
-
Sensory Thresholds / physiology
-
Thumb / physiology
Substances
-
Muscarinic Antagonists
-
Scopolamine