TY  - JOUR
A1  - Poh, Eugenia Z.
A1  - Green, Courtney
A1  - Agostinelli, Luca
A1  - Penrose-Menz, Marissa
A1  - Karl, Ann-Kathrin
A1  - Harvey, Alan R.
A1  - Rodger, Jennifer
T1  - Manipulating the level of sensorimotor stimulation during LI-rTMS can improve visual circuit reorganisation in adult ephrin-A2A5\(^{-/-}\) Mice
JF  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that has the potential to treat a variety of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. The extent of rTMS-induced neuroplasticity may be dependent on a subject’s brain state at the time of stimulation. Chronic low intensity rTMS (LI-rTMS) has previously been shown to induce beneficial structural and functional reorganisation within the abnormal visual circuits of ephrin-A2A5\(^{-/-}\) mice in ambient lighting. Here, we administered chronic LI-rTMS in adult ephrin-A2A5\(^{-/-}\) mice either in a dark environment or concurrently with voluntary locomotion. One day after the last stimulation session, optokinetic responses were assessed and fluorescent tracers were injected to map corticotectal and geniculocortical projections. We found that LI-rTMS in either treatment condition refined the geniculocortical map. Corticotectal projections were improved in locomotion+LI-rTMS subjects, but not in dark + LI-rTMS and sham groups. Visuomotor behaviour was not improved in any condition. Our results suggest that the beneficial reorganisation of abnormal visual circuits by rTMS can be significantly influenced by simultaneous, ambient visual input and is enhanced by concomitant physical exercise. Furthermore, the observed pathway-specific effects suggest that regional molecular changes and/or the relative proximity of terminals to the induced electric fields influence the outcomes of LI-rTMS on abnormal circuitry.
KW  - LI-rTMS
KW  - neuroplasticity
KW  - visual pathways
KW  - topography
KW  - visual activity
KW  - locomotion
KW  - brain state
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284090
SN  - 1422-0067
VL  - 23
IS  - 5
ER  -