Preceding repetitive stimulation diminishes long-term potentiation-like plasticity in human motor cortex

Introduction: Neuronal networks undergo plastic changes considered essential for learning and memory. Long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are able to account for these changes in vitro and underlie the rules proposed by the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro (BCM) theory of bidirectional plasticity. Methods: We tested whether the history of previous excitation as part of the BCM theory has an influence on the induction of increased cortical excitability with paired associative stimulation (PAS). A PAS25ms protocol was preceded with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at 0.1Hz which…