1Ningbo Kangning Hospital, Ningbo Key Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Ningbo 315201, China
2School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China
3Rehabilitation Medicine Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
4Ningbo Key Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Ningbo University School of Medicine, Ningbo 315211, China
Chuang Wang (wangchuang@nbu.edu.cn) & Zhenyu Hu (hzy86690952@163.com) & Ti-Fei Yuan (ytf0707@126.com)

Abstract 

Patients with schizophrenia undergo changes in brain plasticity. In the present study, we characterized motor cortical-striatal plasticity in such patients. Compared with the potentiation following high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the control group, the patients demonstrated impaired plasticity of corticostriatal motor-evoked potentials recorded from hand muscles. Notably, the loss of cortical plasticity was correlated with impaired motor learning in a rotary pursuit task. Moreover, the loss of plasticity was correlated with the symptoms of schizophrenia. The results suggest that the progression of schizophrenia is accompanied by altered cortical plasticity and functioning.

Keywords

Schizophrenia, Cortical plasticity, Motor learning human

[SpringerLink]