The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 87 No. 1 January 2002, pp. 166-171
Copyright ©2002 by the American Physiological Society
Cholinergic Influences on Use-Dependent Plasticity
L.
Sawaki,
B.
Boroojerdi,
A.
Kaelin-Lang,
A. H.
Burstein,
C. M.
Bütefisch,
L.
Kopylev,
B.
Davis, and
L. G.
Cohen
Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Sawaki, L.,
B. Boroojerdi,
A. Kaelin-Lang,
A. H. Burstein,
C. M. Bütefisch,
L. Kopylev,
B. Davis, and
L. G. Cohen.
Cholinergic Influences on Use-Dependent Plasticity. J. Neurophysiol. 87: 166-171, 2002. Motor practice elicits use-dependent plasticity in humans as well
as in animals. Given the influence of cholinergic neurotransmission on
learning and memory processes, we evaluated the effects of scopolamine
(a muscarinic receptor antagonist) on use-dependent plasticity and
corticomotor excitability in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized design study. Use-dependent plasticity was substantially attenuated by scopolamine in the absence of global changes in corticomotor excitability. These results identify a facilitatory role
for cholinergic influences in use-dependent plasticity in the human
motor system.
