Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 22, Issue 10, Pages 499-503Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3283487480
Keywords
aging; manual dexterity; motor control; motor cortex; short-interval intracortical facilitation; transcranial magnetic stimulation
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Functional changes in the primary motor cortex might contribute to age-related decline in fine motor control. We measured short-interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) in an intrinsic hand muscle with paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation at interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5ms in young and old participants and examined its association with dexterity. We found age-related effects in SICF, with greater facilitation in old than young participants at the 1.5-ms ISI and greater facilitation in young than old participants at the 2.5-ms ISI. SICF at the 2.5-ms ISI was positively correlated with performance on a task that required coordinated and dextrous use of both hands, suggesting that this measure indicates a capacity for executing demanding manual tasks. NeuroReport 22:499-503 (C) 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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