Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis?
Corticospinal pathway and its function are essential in motor control and motor rehabilitation. Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes damage to the brain and descending connections, and often diminishes corticospinal function. In people with MS, neural plasticity is available, although it does not necessar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2020.00552/full |
| _version_ | 1818289565432020992 |
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| author | Aiko K. Thompson Thomas Sinkjær Thomas Sinkjær |
| author_facet | Aiko K. Thompson Thomas Sinkjær Thomas Sinkjær |
| author_sort | Aiko K. Thompson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Corticospinal pathway and its function are essential in motor control and motor rehabilitation. Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes damage to the brain and descending connections, and often diminishes corticospinal function. In people with MS, neural plasticity is available, although it does not necessarily remain stable over the course of disease progress. Thus, inducing plasticity to the corticospinal pathway so as to improve its function may lead to motor control improvements, which impact one's mobility, health, and wellness. In order to harness plasticity in people with MS, over the past two decades, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been examined for addressing common symptoms, such as cognitive deficits, fatigue, and spasticity. While these methods appear promising, when it comes to motor rehabilitation, just inducing plasticity or having a capacity for it does not guarantee generation of better motor functions. Targeting plasticity to a key pathway, such as the corticospinal pathway, could change what limits one's motor control and improve function. One of such neural training methods is operant conditioning of the motor-evoked potential that aims to train the behavior of the corticospinal-motoneuron pathway. Through up-conditioning training, the person learns to produce the rewarded neuronal behavior/state of increased corticospinal excitability, and through iterative training, the rewarded behavior/state becomes one's habitual, daily motor behavior. This minireview introduces operant conditioning approach for people with MS. Guiding beneficial CNS plasticity on top of continuous disease progress may help to prolong the duration of maintained motor function and quality of life in people living with MS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:14:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2888785ac0aa43efa11ce8ff117bd3d0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:14:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2888785ac0aa43efa11ce8ff117bd3d02022-12-22T00:02:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952020-07-011110.3389/fneur.2020.00552531711Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis?Aiko K. Thompson0Thomas Sinkjær1Thomas Sinkjær2Department of Health Sciences and Research, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United StatesDepartment of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, DenmarkLundbeck Foundation, Copenhagen, DenmarkCorticospinal pathway and its function are essential in motor control and motor rehabilitation. Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes damage to the brain and descending connections, and often diminishes corticospinal function. In people with MS, neural plasticity is available, although it does not necessarily remain stable over the course of disease progress. Thus, inducing plasticity to the corticospinal pathway so as to improve its function may lead to motor control improvements, which impact one's mobility, health, and wellness. In order to harness plasticity in people with MS, over the past two decades, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been examined for addressing common symptoms, such as cognitive deficits, fatigue, and spasticity. While these methods appear promising, when it comes to motor rehabilitation, just inducing plasticity or having a capacity for it does not guarantee generation of better motor functions. Targeting plasticity to a key pathway, such as the corticospinal pathway, could change what limits one's motor control and improve function. One of such neural training methods is operant conditioning of the motor-evoked potential that aims to train the behavior of the corticospinal-motoneuron pathway. Through up-conditioning training, the person learns to produce the rewarded neuronal behavior/state of increased corticospinal excitability, and through iterative training, the rewarded behavior/state becomes one's habitual, daily motor behavior. This minireview introduces operant conditioning approach for people with MS. Guiding beneficial CNS plasticity on top of continuous disease progress may help to prolong the duration of maintained motor function and quality of life in people living with MS.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2020.00552/fulloperant conditioningmotor-evoked potentialcorticospinal excitabilityfoot dropplasticity |
| spellingShingle | Aiko K. Thompson Thomas Sinkjær Thomas Sinkjær Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? Frontiers in Neurology operant conditioning motor-evoked potential corticospinal excitability foot drop plasticity |
| title | Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? |
| title_full | Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? |
| title_fullStr | Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? |
| title_short | Can Operant Conditioning of EMG-Evoked Responses Help to Target Corticospinal Plasticity for Improving Motor Function in People With Multiple Sclerosis? |
| title_sort | can operant conditioning of emg evoked responses help to target corticospinal plasticity for improving motor function in people with multiple sclerosis |
| topic | operant conditioning motor-evoked potential corticospinal excitability foot drop plasticity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2020.00552/full |
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