Université de Fribourg

Age-related differences in corticospinal excitability during observation and motor imagery of balance tasks

Mouthon, Audrey A. ; Ruffieux, Jan ; Keller, Martin ; Taube, Wolfgang

In: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2016, vol. 8, p. -

Postural control declines across adult lifespan. Non-physical balance training has been suggested as an alternative to improve postural control in frail/immobilized elderly people. Previous studies showed that this kind of training can improve balance control in young and older adults. However, it is unclear whether the brain of young and older adults is activated differently during mental...

Université de Fribourg

Changes in corticospinal transmission following 8 weeks of ankle joint immobilization

Leukel, Christian ; Taube, Wolfgang ; Rittweger, Jörn ; Gollhofer, Albert ; Ducos, Michel ; Weber, Tobias ; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper

In: Clinical Neurophysiology, 2015, vol. 126, no. 1, p. 131–139

Joint immobilization has previously been shown to modulate corticospinal excitability. The present study investigated changes in the excitability of distinct fractions of the corticospinal pathway by means of conditioning the H-reflex with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the primary motor cortex (Hcond). This method allows assessment of transmission in fast (monosynaptic) and slow(er)...