TY - JOUR
T1 - Replicability of motor cortex-excitability modulation by intermittent theta burst stimulation
AU - Seybert, Carolina
AU - Cotovio, Gonçalo
AU - Rodrigues da Silva, Daniel
AU - Faro Viana, Francisco
AU - Pereira, Patrícia
AU - Oliveira-Maia, Albino J.
N1 - Funding Information:
GC was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT; Portugal) through a PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/130210/2017. CS, GC and AJO-M were supported by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017. AJO-M by grant PTDC/MEC-PSQ/30302/2017-IC&DT-LISBOA-01–0145-FEDER, funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES and co-funded by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement Lisboa 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, and by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 950357). The content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia or the European Research Council.
Funding Information:
AJO-M was national coordinator for Portugal of a non-interventional study (EDMS-ERI-143085581, 4.0) to characterize a Treatment-Resistant Depression Cohort in Europe, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (2019–2020), national coordinator for Portugal of trials of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Compass Pathways, Ltd (EudraCT number 2017–003288-36), and of esketamine for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (EudraCT NUMBER: 2019–002992-33), and is recipient of a grant from Schuhfried GmBH for norming and validation of cognitive tests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Objective: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) allows for cortical-excitability (CE) assessment and its modulation has been associated with neuroplasticity-like phenomena, thought to be impaired in neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the stability of these measures has been challenged, defying their potential as biomarkers. This study aimed to test the temporal stability of cortical-excitability modulation and study the impact of individual and methodological factors in determining within- and between-subject variability. Methods: We recruited healthy-subjects to assess motor cortex (MC) excitability modulation, collecting motor evoked potentials (MEP) from both hemispheres, before and after left-sided intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), to obtain a measure of MEPs change (delta-MEPs). To assess stability across-time, the protocol was repeated after 6 weeks. Socio-demographic and psychological variables were collected to test association with delta-MEPs. Results: We found modulatory effects on left MC and not on right hemisphere following iTBS of left MC. Left delta-MEP was stable across-time when performed immediately after iTBS (ICC = 0.69), only when obtained first in left hemisphere. We discovered similar results in a replication cohort testing only left MC (ICC = 0.68). No meaningful associations were found between demographic and psychological factors and delta-MEPs. Conclusions: Delta-MEP is stable immediately after modulation and not impacted by different individual factors, including expectation about TMS-effect. Significance: Motor cortex excitability modulation immediately after iTBS should be further explored as a potential biomarker for neuropsychiatric diseases.
AB - Objective: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) allows for cortical-excitability (CE) assessment and its modulation has been associated with neuroplasticity-like phenomena, thought to be impaired in neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the stability of these measures has been challenged, defying their potential as biomarkers. This study aimed to test the temporal stability of cortical-excitability modulation and study the impact of individual and methodological factors in determining within- and between-subject variability. Methods: We recruited healthy-subjects to assess motor cortex (MC) excitability modulation, collecting motor evoked potentials (MEP) from both hemispheres, before and after left-sided intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), to obtain a measure of MEPs change (delta-MEPs). To assess stability across-time, the protocol was repeated after 6 weeks. Socio-demographic and psychological variables were collected to test association with delta-MEPs. Results: We found modulatory effects on left MC and not on right hemisphere following iTBS of left MC. Left delta-MEP was stable across-time when performed immediately after iTBS (ICC = 0.69), only when obtained first in left hemisphere. We discovered similar results in a replication cohort testing only left MC (ICC = 0.68). No meaningful associations were found between demographic and psychological factors and delta-MEPs. Conclusions: Delta-MEP is stable immediately after modulation and not impacted by different individual factors, including expectation about TMS-effect. Significance: Motor cortex excitability modulation immediately after iTBS should be further explored as a potential biomarker for neuropsychiatric diseases.
KW - Cortical excitability modulation
KW - Expectation
KW - Intermittent theta burst stimulation
KW - Stability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160743243&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.04.014
DO - 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.04.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85160743243
SN - 1388-2457
VL - 152
SP - 22
EP - 33
JO - Clinical Neurophysiology
JF - Clinical Neurophysiology
ER -