Neurophysiological Features of Motor Cortex Excitability and Plasticity in Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Dementia: a TMS Mapping Study

Objective: To evaluate neurophysiological features of M1 excitability and plasticity in Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Dementia (SIVD), by means of a TMS mapping study.

Methods: Seven SIVD and nine AD patients, along with nine control subjects were tested. The M1 excitability was studied by resting thresholds, area and volume of active cortical sites for forearm and hand's examined muscles. For M1 plasticity, coordinates of the hot-spot and the center of gravity (CoG) were evaluated. The correlation between the degree of hyperexcitability and the amount of M1 plastic rearrangement was also calculated.

Results: Multivariate analysis of excitability measures demonstrated similarly enhanced cortical excitability in AD and SIVD patients with respect to controls. SIVD patients showed a medial and frontal shift of CoG from the hot-spot, not statistically different from that observed in AD. A significant direct correlation was seen between parameters related to cortical excitability and those related to cortical plasticity.

Conclusions: The results suggest the existence of common compensatory mechanisms in different kind of dementing diseases supporting the idea that cortical hyperexcitability can promote cortical plasticity.

Significance: This study characterizes neurophysiological features of motor cortex excitability and plasticity in SIVD, providing new insights on the correlation between cortical excitability and plasticity.