Min Sun Kim1, Ho Koo1, Sang Who Han1, Walter Paulus2, Michael A Nitsche2,3,4, Yun-Hee Kim5, Jin A Yoon6, Yong-Il Shin6. 1. Department of Physiology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, South Korea. 2. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Center, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany. 3. Leibniz Research Center for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany. 4. Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. 5. Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Prevention and Rehabilitation, Heart Vascular Stroke Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. 6. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, South Korea.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) induces a long-lasting increase in cortical excitability that can increase gene transcription in the brain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of genes related to activity-dependent neuronal plasticity in the sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus of young Sprague-Dawley rats following A-tDCS. METHODS: We applied A-tDCS over the right sensorimotor cortex epicranially with a circular electrode (3 mm diameter) at 250 μA for 20 min per day for 7 consecutive days. Levels of mRNA for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), synapsin I, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc), and c-Fos were analyzed using SYBR Green quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: We found that 7 days of unilateral A-tDCS resulted in significant increases in transcription of all plasticity-related genes tested in the ipsilateral cortex. Daily A-tDCS also resulted in a significant increase in c-Fos mRNA in the ipsilateral hippocampus. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that altered expression of plasticity-associated genes in the cortex and hippocampus is a molecular substrate of A-tDCS-induced neural plasticity.
BACKGROUND: Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) induces a long-lasting increase in cortical excitability that can increase gene transcription in the brain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of genes related to activity-dependent neuronal plasticity in the sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus of young Sprague-Dawley rats following A-tDCS. METHODS: We applied A-tDCS over the right sensorimotor cortex epicranially with a circular electrode (3 mm diameter) at 250 μA for 20 min per day for 7 consecutive days. Levels of mRNA for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), synapsin I, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc), and c-Fos were analyzed using SYBR Green quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: We found that 7 days of unilateral A-tDCS resulted in significant increases in transcription of all plasticity-related genes tested in the ipsilateral cortex. Daily A-tDCS also resulted in a significant increase in c-Fos mRNA in the ipsilateral hippocampus. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that altered expression of plasticity-associated genes in the cortex and hippocampus is a molecular substrate of A-tDCS-induced neural plasticity.
Entities:
Keywords:
Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation; immediate-early genes; somatosensory cortex; synaptic plasticity-related genes
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