Acute Effects of Strength and Skill Training on the Cortical and Spinal Circuits of Contralateral Limb

Figures & data

FIGURE 1. Time course of the two experimental sessions. The order of delivery of PNS and TMS was randomised across sessions and participants.

TABLE 1. Means and standard deviations of the parameters measured during strength and skill testing.

Parameter	Hand	MEAN ± SD (PRE)	MEAN ± SD (POST)
MVC (N)	LEFT	12.83 ± 5.11	13.05 ± 4.50
MVC (N)	RIGHT	14.35 ± 3.96	15.4 ± 4.50
RMSE _25% (N)	LEFT	1.44 ± 0.75	1.05 ± 0.59
RMSE_25% (N)	RIGHT	2.49 ± 1.25	1.60 ± 0.94
RMSE_50% (N)	LEFT	1.93 ± 0.84	1.48 ± 0.67
RMSE_50% (N)	RIGHT	2.61 ± 1.19	2.08 ± 1.18

FIGURE 2. Results from peripheral nerve stimulation. (A) M_max (n = 12) and (B) H_M10% (n = 13) mean amplitudes recorded before (PRE) and after (POST) strength and skill training. Boxes represent the associated standard error (SE) and whiskers represent the associated 95% confidence interval.

TABLE 2. Means and standard deviations (in mV) of the parameters recorded across time and conditions.

Condition	Parameter	MEAN ± SD (PRE)	MEAN ± SD (POST)
STRENGTH	aMT	0.116 ± 0.036	0.151 ± 0.069
	120% aMT	0.273 ± 0.123	0.271 ± 0.142
	Mmax	4.374 ± 1.885 11.9533	4.236 ± 1.602
	HM10%	0.568 ± 0.366	0.557 ± 0.461
SKILL	aMT	0.115 ± 0.035	0.150 ± 0.068
	120% aMT	0.318 ± 0.205	0.316 ± 0.208
	Mmax	4.489 ± 1.893	4.465 ± 2.051
	HM10%	0.480 ± 0.277	0.439 ± 0.274

FIGURE 3. Results from TMS. (A) aMT (n = 13) and (B) 120% aMT (n = 10) mean amplitudes recorded before (PRE) and after (POST) strength and skill training. Boxes represent the associated standard error (SE) and whiskers represent the associated 95% confidence interval. The asterisks represent the significant effect of Time.

FIGURE 4. Mean conditioned H-reflex values (± SE) of all intervals across time for the (A) strength and (B) skill conditions as percentages of the unconditioned H-reflex). The asterisk represents a significant main effect of Time (p < 0.05).