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. 2020 Jun 25:14:576.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00576. eCollection 2020.

The After-Effect of Accelerated Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation at Different Session Intervals

Fengyun Yu  1   2 , Xinwei Tang  1 , Ruiping Hu  1 , Sijie Liang  2 , Weining Wang  2 , Shan Tian  1 , Yi Wu  1 , Ti-Fei Yuan  3   4 , Yulian Zhu  1
Affiliations

The After-Effect of Accelerated Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation at Different Session Intervals

Fengyun Yu et al. Front Neurosci. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Objective: The study aims to investigate the after-effect of three sessions of intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) on motor cortical excitability. The iTBS was induced over the primary motor cortex (M1) at different time intervals.

Methods: The study has a crossover design. Sixteen participants were assigned to three groups and received different accelerated iTBS (aiTBS) protocols during each visit: (1) three continuous sessions with no interval (iTBS18000); (2) three iTBS sessions with 10-min intervals (iTBS600 × 3∗10); and (3) three iTBS sessions with 30-min intervals (iTBS600 × 3∗30). As washout period, each visit is separated by at least 7 days. We measured the motor cortical excitability changes and intracortical inhibition.

Results: A dose of 1,800 pulses of aiTBS per day is tolerable. The iTBS1800 led to a reduced cortical excitability; whereas iTBS600 × 3∗10 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 enhanced cortical excitability to a differential extent. After a total dose of 1,800 pulses, iTBS600 × 3∗30 exhibited the longer effect and highest percentage of individuals with enhanced cortical excitability.

Conclusion: The results suggest that aiTBS protocols at different time intervals result in different motor cortical excitability after-effects.

Keywords: accelerated; cortical plasticity; motor cortex; stimulation interval; theta burst stimulation.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Experimental design. Using a within-subjects cross-over design, each subject took part in three sessions in different day. MEPs and LICI were assessed before and post iTBS intervention. The time required for (A) iTBS1800 to received iTBS protocol was 9 min and 52 s. (B) iTBS600 × 3∗10 was required to receive three blocks of iTBS stimuli, each of which was 10 min apart. the total stimulus time was 29 min and 36 s. (C) iTBS600 × 3∗30 received three blocks of iTBS stimuli at a 30-min interval, the total stimulus time was 69 min and 36 s.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
MEPs amplitude at stimulation interval after each block of iTBS and up to 60 min post 1800 pulses of iTBS in difference iTBS conditions. For each cluster of (A) iTBS1800 (B) iTBS600 × 3∗10 (C) iTBS600 × 3∗30. Asterisks indicate statistical significance between the MEPs amplitude at that time point and the baseline MEPs amplitude (*P<0.05).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The after-effect of 1800 pulses iTBS on MEP amplitude at times 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min following three different iTBS condition. MEPs amplitude were normalized to baseline.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Relationship between iTBS1800, iTBS600 × 3∗10, and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at time points 10, 30, and 60 min. Correlation between the normalized grand average MEPs amplitude following different iTBS conditions (A) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗10 at 10 min (B) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗10 at 30 min (C) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗10 at 60 min (D) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 10 min (E) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 30 min (F) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS1800 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 60 min (G) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS600 × 3∗10 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 10 min (H) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS600 × 3∗10 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 30 min (I) MEPs amplitude correlation of iTBS600 × 3∗10 and iTBS600 × 3∗30 at 60 min.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Individual response to iTBS after 1800 pulses stimulation in three different intervals. (A) iTBS1800 (B) iTBS600 × 3∗10 (C) iTBS600 × 3∗30.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
The percentage of subjects that responded to different iTBS conditions. (A) one blocks of iTBS (B) iTBS1800 (C) iTBS600 × 3∗10 (D) iTBS600 × 3∗30.
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