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Proessl F, Beckner ME, Sinnott AM, Eagle SR, LaGoy AD, Conkright WR, Canino MC, Sterczala AJ, Midhe Ramkumar PP, Sciavolino BM, Connaboy C, Ferrarelli F, Germain A, Nindl BC, Flanagan SD. Reliability of corticospinal excitability estimates for the vastus lateralis: Practical considerations for lower limb TMS task selection. Brain Res 2021; 1761:147395. [PMID: 33662340 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is increasingly used to examine lower extremity corticospinal excitability (CSE) in clinical and sports research. Because CSE is task-specific, there is growing emphasis on the use of ecological tasks. Nevertheless, the comparative reliability of CSE measurements during established (e.g. knee extensions; KE) and more recent ecological (e.g. squats; SQT) lower extremity tasks has received less attention. The aim of this study was to compare the test-retest reliability of CSE, force, and muscle activity (EMG) during isometric SQT and KE. 19 right-footed men (age: 25 ± 5 yrs) with similar fitness and body composition performed SQT (N = 7) or KE (N = 12) on two consecutive days. Force and EMG were recorded during maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVC). Corticospinal excitability was determined in the dominant leg during light (15% MVC) contractions based on motor evoked potential (MEP) stimulus-response-curves (SRC). Test-retest reliability, absolute agreement, and consistency were determined for force, EMG, and SRC MEP maximum (MEPMAX) and rising phase midpoint (V50). As a secondary analysis, all outcomes were compared between groups with mixed-methods ANCOVAs (Task × Time, covariate: body-fat-percentage). Compared with SQT, KE displayed better test-retest reliability and agreement for MEPMAX whereas V50, force, and EMG were similarly reliable. Force (p = 0.01) and MEPMAX (p = 0.02) were also greater during KE despite a similar V50 (p = 0.11). Differences in test-retest reliability, absolute agreement, and between-group comparisons highlight the need to carefully select lower limb TMS assessment tasks and encourage future efforts to balance ecological validity with statistical sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Proessl
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - M E Beckner
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - A M Sinnott
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - S R Eagle
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - A D LaGoy
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - W R Conkright
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - M C Canino
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - A J Sterczala
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - P P Midhe Ramkumar
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - B M Sciavolino
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - C Connaboy
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - F Ferrarelli
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - A Germain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - B C Nindl
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - S D Flanagan
- Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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Ficarella SC, Battelli L. Motor Preparation for Action Inhibition: A Review of Single Pulse TMS Studies Using the Go/NoGo Paradigm. Front Psychol 2019; 10:340. [PMID: 30846954 PMCID: PMC6393403 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Human behavior must be flexible to respond to environmental and social demands, and to achieve these goals, it requires control. For instance, inhibitory control is used to refrain from executing unwanted or anticipated responses to environmental stimuli. When inhibitory mechanisms are inefficient due to some pathological conditions, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or pathological gambling, patients show a reduced capability of refraining from executing actions. When planning to execute an action, various inhibitory control mechanisms are activated to prevent the unwanted release of impulses and to ensure that the correct response is produced. A great body of research has used various cognitive tasks to isolate one or more components of inhibitory control (e.g., response selectivity) and to investigate their neuronal underpinnings. However, inter-individual differences in behavior are rarely properly considered, although they often represent a considerable source of noise in the data. In the present review, we will address this issue using the specific case of action inhibition, presenting the results of studies that coupled the so-called Go/NoGo paradigm with non-invasive brain stimulation to directly test the effects of motor inhibition on the excitability of the corticospinal system (CSE). Motor preparation is rarely measured in action inhibition studies, and participants’ compliancy to the task’s requests is often assumed rather than tested. Single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a powerful tool to directly measure CSE, whose responsivity depends on both excitatory and inhibitory processes. However, when motor preparation is not measured and the task design does not require participants to prepare responses in advance, fluctuations in CSE levels can be mistaken for active inhibition. One way to isolate motor preparation is to use a carefully designed task that allows to control for excessive variability in the timing of activation of inhibitory control mechanisms. Here, we review single pulse TMS studies that have used variants of the Go/NoGo task to investigate inhibitory control functions in healthy participants. We will identify the specific strategies that likely induced motor preparation in participants, and their results will be compared to current theories of action inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania C Ficarella
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems@UniTn, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy.,INSERM U 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
| | - Lorella Battelli
- Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems@UniTn, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy.,Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation and Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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