Abstract
ObjectiveThis study explored whether acupuncture affects the maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP)-like plasticity induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the acquisition of motor skills following repetitive sequential visual isometric pinch task (SVIPT) training.MethodsThirty-six participants were recruited. The changes in the aftereffects induced by intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) and followed acupuncture were tested by the amplitude motor evoked potential (MEP) at pre-and-post-iTBS for 30 min and at acupuncture-in and -off for 30 min. Secondly, the effects of acupuncture on SVIPT movement in inducing error rate and learning skill index were tested.ResultsFollowing one session of iTBS, the MEP amplitude was increased and maintained at a high level for 30 min. The facilitation of MEP was gradually decreased to the baseline level during acupuncture-in and did not return to a high level after needle extraction. The SVIPT-acupuncture group had a lower learning skill index than those in the SVIPT group, indicating that acupuncture intervention after SVIPT training may restrain the acquisition ability of one’s learning skills.ConclusionAcupuncture could reverse the LTP-like plasticity of the contralateral motor cortex induced by iTBS. Subsequent acupuncture may negatively affect the efficacy of the acquisition of learned skills in repetitive exercise training.
Highlights
Motor learning is the process of acquiring motor skills in repetitive training, in which the execution of actions is improved by goal-oriented training (Roth et al, 2020)
The sequential visual isometric pinch task (SVIPT) group demonstrated a progressively higher index than the SVIPT-acupuncture group on the third (q = 0.035, P = 0.058), fourth (q = 0.083, P < 0.01), and fifth days (q = 0.088, P < 0.01) (Table 2). These results suggest that acupuncture intervention may restrain the subjects’ learning skill index after movement practice and could inhibit the cortical plasticity induced by the SVIPT practice
These results suggested that subsequent acupuncture intervention after movement practice may inhibit learning skill indices following repetitive exercise training, indicating that subsequent acupuncture in the contralateral upper limb had a negative impact on the behavioral outcomes of motor learning
Summary
Motor learning is the process of acquiring motor skills in repetitive training, in which the execution of actions is improved by goal-oriented training (Roth et al, 2020). When given a series of varying motor learning items, subsequent movements may interfere with the imprinted memory stimulated by previous motor learning (Hulme et al, 2013). In order to learn the different motor skills in sequential order, the acquired memory for the previous motor skill would be inhibited by the later movement (Hulme et al, 2013). The presence of LTP could be reversed by subsequent electrical stimulation or depotentiation. This was demonstrated by Dong et al, 2020, who applied low-frequency electrical stimulation and found a form-and time-dependent effect on the maintenance of LTP of the hippocampus (Dong et al, 2020). LTP of hippocampal synapses in adult rats was reversed as rats entered a novel environment (Xu et al, 1998)
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