Transcranial magnetic stimulation induced metaplasticity in primary somatosensory cortex

促进神经可塑性的经颅磁刺激（TMS）方法正在迅速推进我们对人类大脑功能的理解。 躯体感觉皮层表现出TMS诱导的可塑性倾向，并影响肌肉的神经控制。 然而，很少有人知道的机制，管理TMS诱导的可塑性在人类躯体感觉皮层。 支配可塑性的一种机制是超可塑性，其通过逆转神经活动的方向来限制可塑性以维持神经回路内的稳定性。 理解支持亚塑性的过程对于预测TMS诱导的可塑性效应至关重要，并且对于准确研究人脑功能和/或促进新治疗方案的可塑性至关重要。 为了准确和有效地利用TMS诱导的可塑性协议，建议的程序解决这些问题：1）什么是亚塑性的大小，方向和持续时间？2)是什么神经机制支撑着超可塑性？3)在皮质和/或脊髓回路中是否发生了变形性效应？

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) approaches to promote neural plasticity are rapidly advancing our understanding of human brain function. The somatosensory cortex demonstrates a propensity for TMS-induced plasticity and influences the neural control of muscles. However, little is known about the mechanisms that govern TMS-induced plasticity in human somatosensory cortex. One mechanism that governs plasticity is metaplasticity which acts to limit plasticity by reversing the direction of neural activity to maintain stability within neural circuits. Understanding the processes that underpin metaplasticity is of the utmost importance for predicting TMS-induced plasticity effects and is critical for accurately studying human brain function and/or promoting plasticity for novel therapeutic regimes. To accurately and effectively utilize TMS-induced plasticity protocols the proposed program addresses these questions: 1) What is the magnitude, direction and duration of metaplasticity? 2) What are the neural mechanisms that underpin metaplasticity? 3) Are metaplasticity effects occurring in the cortex and/or spinal circuitry?