In the control condition, the ADM was activated independently and

In the control condition, the ADM was activated independently and matched a target force line (5% of MVC) displayed on the computer monitor for the entire duration of 5 s trials. TMS was delivered Akt inhibitor randomly between the 1.5 and 3.75 s time points of these control trials in the experimental block trial blocks. In the other three experimental conditions, an index finger flexion movement was performed in response to an acoustic tone delivered randomly between the 1.5 and 3.75 s time points of the 5 s trials while the ADM was performing the same isometric force production task throughout the trial as in the control condition. For index finger flexion,

subjects were instructed to react as fast as possible to the acoustic tone, rapidly increase the force to the

line displayed on the monitor, hold this force throughout the trial, and quickly terminate the force at the end of the trial. The three experimental conditions involving index finger flexion were distinguished by the time in which TMS was delivered relative to the onset of the FDI EMG and will be referred to as the pre-motor, phasic, and tonic conditions. These conditions correspond to the following movement phases and TMS delivery times – pre-motor (20 ms before FDI EMG onset), phasic (the first peak of FDI EMG), and tonic (during UK-371804 cell line contraction at the target force level). In summary, subjects had to accurately maintain a constant target force with the ADM throughout each trial in all conditions, despite sometimes having to concurrently produce a rapid index finger flexion force at random times. This, combined with the low target forces 4-Aminobutyrate aminotransferase and the requirement to use visual feedback to monitor the target forces of both muscles (sometimes simultaneously), made it a difficult motor task. Accordingly, pilot work found that 30–60 practice trials were required for a subject to become proficient. The goal of the initial practice

trial blocks was to provide the subjects with sufficient practice to correctly execute the motor task before progressing to the final practice trial block and experimental trial block. Accordingly, subjects performed two initial practice blocks of 30 trials. TMS was not applied during these practice blocks. At the end of the initial practice blocks, the investigators and each subject were confident that they could correctly execute the motor task. After the initial practice blocks, subjects could perform the motor task correctly and displayed consistent reaction times to the acoustic tone. Therefore, the aim of the final practice block was to determine the individual reaction time of each subject in order that TMS could be delivered at the appropriate times relative to the FDI onset in the pre-motor, phasic, and tonic movement phases in the forthcoming experimental trial blocks (Beck et al., 2008; Beck & Hallett, 2010). Upon completion of the final practice block (20 trials), a custom-written analysis script in Signal 4.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>