ArticleHuman brain mapping2020
Baseline sensorimotor GABA levels shape neuroplastic processes induced by motor learning in older adults.
Article in Human brain mapping, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- No effect of anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation during motor sequence learning in older people.GeroScience · 2026Trial
- Decreased thalamo-cortico connectivity during an implicit sequence motor learning task and 7 days escitalopram intake.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Motor cortex rTMS modulates adult ocular dominance plasticity.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Article
- Linking GABAergic and Dopaminergic Neurotransmission: Effects on Neural Activity During Human Speech Control.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Prefrontal inhibitory mechanisms associated with Putamen activity during valence learning revealed by multimodal fMRI-fMRS.Communications biology · 2025Article
- The role of inhibitory and excitatory neurometabolites in age-related differences in action selection.npj aging · 2025Article
- The Reciprocal Relationship Between Short- and Long-Term Motor Learning and Neurometabolites.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Disinhibition across Secondary Motor Cortical Regions during Motor Sequence Learning: A TMS-EEG Study.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Age-related GABA- and glutamatergic differences in SMA during bimanual coordination.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Baclofen, a GABAb receptor agonist, impairs motor learning in healthy people and changes inhibitory dynamics in motor areas.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- MRS-assessed brain GABA modulation in response to task performance and learning.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2024Review
- Early excitatory-inhibitory cortical modifications following skill learning are associated with motor memory consolidation and plasticity overnight.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Examination of acute spin exercise on GABA levels in aging and stroke: The EASE study protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
- Baseline GABA+ levels in areas associated with sensorimotor control predict initial and long-term motor learning progress.Human brain mapping · 2024Article
- GABA, Aging and Exercise: Functional and Intervention Considerations.Neuroscience insights · 2024Review
- Optimizing the Effect of tDCS on Motor Sequence Learning in the Elderly.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Spontaneous sensorimotor beta power and cortical thickness uniquely predict motor function in healthy aging.NeuroImage · 2022Article
- Short-term arm immobilization modulates excitability of inhibitory circuits within, and between, primary motor cortices.Physiological reports · 2022Article
- Task-Related Modulation of Sensorimotor GABA+ Levels in Association with Brain Activity and Motor Performance: A Multimodal MRS-fMRI Study in Young and Older Adults.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Previous research in young adults has demonstrated that both motor learning and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) trigger decreases in the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the sensorimotor cortex, and these decreases are linked to greater learning. Less is known about the role of GABA in motor learning in healthy older adults, a knowledge gap that is surprising given the established aging-related reductions in sensorimotor GABA. Here, we examined the effects of motor learning and subsequent tDCS on sensorimotor GABA levels and resting-state functional connectivity in the brains of healthy older participants. Thirty-six older men and women completed a motor sequence learning task before receiving anodal or sham tDCS to the sensorimotor cortex. GABA-edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the sensorimotor cortex and resting-state (RS) functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired before and after learning/stimulation. At the group level, neither learning nor anodal tDCS significantly modulated GABA levels or RS connectivity among task-relevant regions. However, changes in GABA levels from the baseline to post-learning session were significantly related to motor learning magnitude, age, and baseline GABA. Moreover, the change in functional connectivity between task-relevant regions, including bilateral motor cortices, was correlated with baseline GABA levels. These data collectively indicate that motor learning-related decreases in sensorimotor GABA levels and increases in functional connectivity are limited to those older adults with higher baseline GABA levels and who learn the most. Post-learning tDCS exerted no influence on GABA levels, functional connectivity or the relationships among these variables in older adults.
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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.