Methamphetamine abuse impairs motor cortical plasticity and function

Abstract

Exposure to addictive drugs triggers synaptic plasticity in reward-related brain regions, such as the midbrain, nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex. Effects of chronic drug exposure on other brain areas have not been fully investigated. Here, we characterize synaptic plasticity in motor cortex after methamphetamine self-administration in rats. We show that this causes a loss of corticostriatal plasticity in rat brain slices and impaired motor learning in the rotarod task. These findings are paralleled by the observation of a lack of transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced potentiation or depression of motor evoked potentials in human patients with addiction, along with poor performance in rotary pursuit task. Taken together, our results suggest that chronic methamphetamine use can affect behavioral performance via drug-evoked synaptic plasticity occluding physiological motor learning.

Twice-Daily Theta Burst Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Reduces Methamphetamine Craving: A Pilot Study

“…The original TBS neurophysiological study employed 80% active MT targeting the primary motor cortex (Huang et al, 2005), while other clinical trials have also tried 120% resting MT of the DLPFC demonstrating both safety and tolerability . Our previous study has shown that TBS (single session/80% motor threshold) over the motor cortex cannot induce cerebral plasticity, which indicates that neuroplasticity is supposed to be altered in methamphetamine users (Huang et al, 2017). The TBS-related plasticity and behavioral change might highly depend on the intensity, the total number of pulses, the number of sessions, and the stimulating site.…”

Exercise training with dietary restriction enhances circulating irisin level associated with increasing endothelial progenitor cell number in obese adults: an intervention study

“…Future studies on a larger scale will be performed. It will be also interesting to quantify the motor cortical changes following training with non-invasive measurement approaches, for instance ( Huang et al, in press ; Shen et al, 2017 ; Zhou et al, 2017 ).…”

Cost effectiveness analysis comparing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to antidepressant medications after a first treatment failure for major depressive disorder in newly diagnosed patients – A lifetime analysis

“…Fourth, these models assume that other direct and indirect costs of MDD were the same for both medication and rTMS treatment. These include the direct costs of concomitant treatment for alcohol and drug abuse [ 53 , 54 , 55 ], sleep and mood disorders, anxiety, and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and sexual disorders, as well as the indirect costs of disability [ 56 ] and suicide [ 57 ]. These models also assume other direct non-depression costs are the same which include: non-depression related prescription drugs (@ $1,440 /year) [ 31 ] and; non-mental health provider visits (@$7,700/year) [ 31 ].…”