Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026
Standardized Induction and Assessment of Long-term Potentiation-like Cortical Plasticity Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: November 7, 2025
Reduction of Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation-Induced Motor Plasticity in Healthy Elderly With COMT Val158Met
Nam Jae Lee1, Hyun Jung Ahn2, Kwang-Ik Jung1
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chooncheon, Korea.
Objective:
To delineate whether cortical plasticity induced by continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) differed according to catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene polymorphism in healthy older adults.
Methods:
Eighteen healthy older volunteers (mean age 73.78±5.04; 12 females and 6 males) were recruited. Volunteers randomly assigned in either a sham-first or real cTBS first group participated in two separate TMS visits with at least a 2-day wash-out period. Genotyping was carried out at baseline by a separate researcher who was blinded. cTBS was delivered in a hot spot over M1 at an active motor threshold of 80%. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were obtained at 120% of the resting motor threshold before and after sham/cTBS.
Results:
The relative MEP to baseline was significantly decreased 0 and 10 minutes post-stimulation and increased 40 minutes post-stimulation, as compared with the sham condition. Immediately after cTBS, the Val/Val group had a significantly reduced relative MEP value, as compared with the MET carrier group.
Conclusion:
In healthy older persons, cTBS-induced motor plasticity was reduced in the COMT Val/Val group as compared with the (158)Met carrier group.
