経頭蓋磁気刺激で誘発された第I指の運動の変化 --運動の調子が規則的であることと不規則的であることの影響--

Abstract

PURPOSE: To treat patients with brain damage, therapy options include regular movement tasks, but the precise effects of movement regularity are not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate which facilitation is better, regularity or irregularity. SUBJECTS: Five subjects aged 26 to 32, participated in this study. They were neurologically normal and right-handed. METHODS: We used thumb movement evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate rapid plasticity in the primary motor area. First, the TMS-evoked thumb movement was recorded by video camera for five mins and then measured. The subjects then performed thumb movement in the opposite direction evoked by TMS. Task I consisted of regular movements (1Hz, 22.5 mins, 1350 times) timed by a metronome, and Task II of irregular movements (1Hz, 30 mins, 1350 times) induced by turning off of the metronome to indicate stoppage of mevement (25% at random). Every subject performed the tasks on different days. Third, TMS-evoked thumb movements were recorded for 15 mins by video camera after Task I or II and then measured. RESULTS: The direction of movements in Task I changed to performed movements 0-3 min and 4-6 min after the tasks (repeated two-way ANOVA ; post-hoc test, p<0.05), but direction of Task II did not changed. CONCLUSION: The directions of movements in Task I changed significantly, but not those in Task II. It may therefore be advisable for therapist to use regular movement to help patients acquire new movement directions.