SynthesisClinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology2016
A meta-analysis of the effects of aging on motor cortex neurophysiology assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Synthesis in Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.
- Age-Related Differences in Corticospinal Function and Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Combined noninvasive brain stimulation and acupuncture for post-stroke motor recovery: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the limb function of stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Effects of HD-tDCS targeting prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and motor cortex on dual-task gait in older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- tDCS-Induced Modulation of GABA Levels and Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Older Adults.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2017Trial
- Motor Cortex Hyperexcitability Is Coupled to Neuromuscular Dysfunction in Aged Mice.Aging cell · 2026Article
- Closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) reduces cue reactivity and improves inhibitory control in methamphetamine use disorder with frequency and timing specificity.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Resting-state neural oscillations of the motor system influence the resting motor threshold.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- Stroke and motor outcomes are associated with regional and age-specific changes in periodic and aperiodic cortical activity.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Exploring Risk Factors and Neurophysiological Mechanisms Underlying the Development of Chronic Postsurgical Pain After Thoracic Surgery: Protocol for an Observational Feasibility Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Age-group differences in diffusion MRI characteristics of cortico-cerebellar tracts and their association with bimanual performance.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neural and motor mechanisms of handwriting: from healthy aging to neurodegenerative disorders.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation from healthy brain aging to Alzheimer's disease: a review on mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and future clinical directions.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Cortical high-threshold and low-activation characteristics in adolescent depression: a cross-age differential analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Characterising resting motor threshold in depressed individuals across life span: a large retrospective study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Effects of Healthy Aging on Tongue-Jaw Kinematics During Feeding.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Cerebellar Brain Inhibition and Its Association with Motor Inhibition and Reaction Time In Younger and Older Adults.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025Article
- Electroencephalographic responses before, during, and after upper limb paired associative stimulation.Data in brief · 2025Article
- Modulation of primary motor cortex after experimentally induced and use-dependent plasticity in young and older adults.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Repeated spaced paired-associative stimulation to the parietal-motor pathway maintains corticomotor excitability in older adults.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTranscranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive tool used for studying cortical excitability and plasticity in the human brain. This review aims to quantitatively synthesize the literature on age-related differences in cortical excitability and plasticity, examined by TMS.
methodsA literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO from 1980 to December 2015. We extracted studies with healthy old (50-89years) versus young (16-49years) individuals that utilized the following TMS measures: resting motor threshold (RMT), short-interval cortical inhibition (SICI), short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), cortical silent period (CSP), intracortical facilitation (ICF), and paired associative stimulation (PAS).
resultsWe found a significant increase in RMT (g=0.414, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.284, 0.544], p<0.001), a significant decrease in SAI (g=0.778, 95% CI [0.478, 1.078], p<0.001), and a trending decrease in LTP-like plasticity (g=-0.528, 95% CI [-1.157, 0.100] p<0.1) with age.
conclusionsOur findings suggest an age-dependent reduction in cortical excitability and sensorimotor integration within the human motor cortex. SIGNIFICANCE: Alterations in the ability to regulate cortical excitability, sensorimotor integration and plasticity may underlie several age-related motor deficits.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.