Oakton Community College1, Des Plaines, IL 60016 Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago2, Sensory Motor Performance Program, Chicago, IL 60611
This experiment was designed to support previous fMRI studies that demonstrated activity in the motor cortex ipsilateral to a lower limb. We tested different protocols in a healthy population that we expected would show brain to spinal motoneuron connectivity, not just brain activity. The instruments used included transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). TMS was used to measure the effect of tDCS on cortical excitability. Two TMS coil positions were used to reveal ipsilateral connectivity. After trying various stimulation parameters, our final protocol proved to be a good method for demonstrating ipsilateral connectivity between the motor cortex and spinal motoneurons. Identifying ipsilateral connectivity to the paretic leg of stroke patients is likely to be critical to the success of walking training therapies.
[Abstract (DOC)]