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Updated: Mar 13, 2026
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Online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Protocol for Measuring Cortical Physiology Associated with Response Inhibition
Published on: February 8, 2018
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Altered cortical processing of motor inhibition in schizophrenia
Påvel G Lindberg1, Maxime Térémetz1, Sylvain Charron2
1FR3636 CNRS, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; INSERM U894, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Paris, France; Institut de Psychiatrie-GDR 3557 de Psychiatrie, France.
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show reduced short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI) during motor inhibition tasks, indicating deficient GABAergic processing. Compensatory brain activation may explain similar task performance despite these local deficits.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Inhibition is crucial in schizophrenia, with reduced short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI) suggesting impaired GABAergic modulation in the motor cortex.
- The modulation of SICI during motor inhibition and its relationship with other cortical areas in schizophrenia remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate motor inhibition using a Stop Signal Task (SST) in patients with schizophrenia, their healthy siblings, and healthy controls.
- To examine the neural correlates of motor inhibition using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
- To explore the relationship between SICI modulation, cortical activation, and genetic markers.
Main Methods:
- Recruited stabilized schizophrenia patients (N=28), healthy siblings (N=21), and healthy controls (N=31).
- Administered a Stop Signal Task (SST) to assess motor inhibition.
- Utilized transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to measure SICI and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity.
Main Results:
- SST performance was comparable across all groups.
- SICI modulation by the task was intact in controls and siblings but reduced in schizophrenia patients.
- fMRI revealed increased prefrontal and premotor activation during motor inhibition in schizophrenia patients.
- Reduced task-related SICI modulation correlated with lower activity in the pre-supplementary motor area and cingulate motor area.
Conclusions:
- Schizophrenia is characterized by a task-related deficiency in SICI modulation, reflecting impaired GABA-A receptor-mediated processing in the motor cortex.
- Increased prefrontal and premotor activation may compensate for local intracortical processing deficits, maintaining motor inhibition performance.
- Task-related SICI modulation shows potential as a non-invasive biomarker for developing schizophrenia therapeutics.
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