Intermittent Theta Burst Over M1 May Increase Peak Power of a Wingate Anaerobic Test and Prevent the Reduction of Voluntary Activation Measured with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Louis-Solal Giboin,Markus Gruber,Raphael Bertschinger,Patrick Thumm

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00150

Louis-Solal Giboin, Markus Gruber + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00150

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Abstract

Despite the potential of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to improve performances in patients suffering from motor neuronal afflictions, its effect on motor performance enhancement in healthy subjects during a specific sport task is still unknown. We hypothesized that after an intermittent theta burst (iTBS) treatment, performance during the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) will increase and supraspinal fatigue following the exercise will be lower in comparison to a control treatment. Ten subjects participated in two randomized experiments consisting of a WAnT 5 min after either an iTBS or a control treatment. We determined voluntary activation (VA) of the right knee extensors with TMS (VATMS) and with peripheral nerve stimulation (VAPNS) of the femoral nerve, before and after the WAnT. T-tests were applied to the WAnT results and a two way within subject ANOVA was applied to VA results. The iTBS treatment increased the peak power and the maximum pedalling cadence and suppressed the reduction of VATMS following the WAnT compared to the control treatment. No behavioral changes related to fatigue (mean power and fatigue index) were observed. These results indicate for the first time that iTBS could be used as a potential intervention to improve anaerobic performance in a sport specific task.

Highlights

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation may be able to induce transient plasticity in cortical neural networks and can modify corticospinal excitability as well (Ziemann, 2004; Hoogendam et al, 2010)
These results indicated that the transient increase in cortical excitability after the Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocol can, at least in part, compensate the loss of neural drive induced by central fatigue, i.e., ‘‘a progressive reduction of voluntary activation (VA) of muscle during exercise’’ (Gandevia, 2001)
A twotailed paired t-test demonstrated higher peak power in the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) after intermittent theta burst (iTBS) compared to the controls (961 SE 51 W for control and 970 SE 7 W for iTBS, p = 0.037; all numbers following SE correspond to the standard error of the mean) as well as a higher max cadence (153 SE 3 rpm for control and 154 SE 3 rpm for iTBS, p = 0.04)

Summary

Introduction

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be able to induce transient plasticity in cortical neural networks and can modify corticospinal excitability as well (Ziemann, 2004; Hoogendam et al, 2010). The authors were able to demonstrate that during a continuing maximal isometric voluntary pinch grip, the rate of force loss was lower over time after the pairedpulse rTMS intervention, indicating a possible effect of this intervention on muscle fatigue. These results indicated that the transient increase in cortical excitability after the rTMS protocol can, at least in part, compensate the loss of neural drive induced by central fatigue, i.e., ‘‘a progressive reduction of voluntary activation (VA) of muscle during exercise’’ (Gandevia, 2001)

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