Facilitation of Cortical Excitability by Action Related Sentence

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of action related visual and auditory stimuli on the motor evoked potential (MEP) of hand. METHOD: Right handed fifteen healthy adults without neurological deficit were included. Visual lingual stimulation was given on the computer monitor with the sentence and auditory lingual stimulation was given 10 repetitions of the above sentence using computer speaker with eyes closed. MEPs from transcranial and transcervical magnetic stimulation were recorded on the abductor pollicis brevis of the right hand. RESULTS: The latency of MEPs was shortened and the amplitude of MEPs with transcranial magnetic stimulation after lingual stimulation (p<0.05). However, the latency and amplitude of with transcervical stimulation did not show significant changes. CONCLUSION: Cortical excitability was enhanced by action related visual or auditory stimuli. Exercise accompanied by visual or auditory lingual stimulation rather than simple exercise might be useful for facilitating cortical excitability.