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Delayed plastic responses to anodal tDCS in older adults
Citation
Fujiyama, H and Hyde, J and Hinder, MR and Kim, S-J and McCormack, GH and Vickers, JC and Summers, JJ, Delayed plastic responses to anodal tDCS in older adults, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6 Article 115. ISSN 1663-4365 (2014) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
DOI: doi:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00115
Abstract
Despite the abundance of research reporting the neurophysiological and behavioral effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in healthy young adults and clinical populations, the extent of potential neuroplastic changes induced by tDCS in healthy older adults is not well understood. The present study compared the extent and time course of anodal tDCS-induced plastic changes in primary motor cortex (M1) in young and older adults. Furthermore, as it has been suggested that neuroplasticity and associated learning depends on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene polymorphisms, we also assessed the impact of BDNF polymorphism on these effects. Corticospinal excitability was examined using transcranial magnetic stimulation before and following (0, 10, 20, 30 min) anodal tDCS (30 min, 1 mA) or sham in young and older adults. While the overall extent of increases in corticospinal excitability induced by anodal tDCS did not vary reliably between young and older adults, older adults exhibited a delayed response; the largest increase in corticospinal excitability occurred 30 min following stimulation for older adults, but immediately post-stimulation for the young group. BDNF genotype did not result in significant differences in the observed excitability increases for either age group. The present study suggests that tDCS-induced plastic changes are delayed as a result of healthy aging, but that the overall efficacy of the plasticity mechanism remains unaffected.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | use of brain stimulation in older adults |
| Research Division: | Health Sciences |
| Research Group: | Sports science and exercise |
| Research Field: | Motor control |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Other health |
| Objective Field: | Other health not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Fujiyama, H (Dr Hakuei Fujiyama) |
| UTAS Author: | Hyde, J (Ms Jane Hyde) |
| UTAS Author: | Hinder, MR (Associate Professor Mark Hinder) |
| UTAS Author: | McCormack, GH (Mr Graeme McCormack) |
| UTAS Author: | Vickers, JC (Professor James Vickers) |
| UTAS Author: | Summers, JJ (Professor Jeffery Summers) |
| ID Code: | 92202 |
| Year Published: | 2014 |
| Funding Support: | Australian Research Council (DE120100729) |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 64 |
| Deposited By: | Psychology |
| Deposited On: | 2014-06-10 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-05 |
| Downloads: | 599 View Download Statistics |
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