Table 1 Comparison of motor map areas across treatment groups.

From: Local activation of α2 adrenergic receptors is required for vagus nerve stimulation induced motor cortical plasticity

 

Vehicle

α2-AR antag.

2-way ANOVA

Sham

VNS

Sham

VNS

pDrug [FDrug]

pVNS [FVNS]

pinteraction [Finteraction]

Group mean (SEM)

Total map area (mm2)

11.68 (0.63)

11.29 (1.55)

13.33 (1.15)

16.83 (0.93)

0.003 [10.98]

0.166 [2.05]

0.088 [3.20]

PFL area (mm2)

2.04 (0.41)

3.88 (0.57)

3.00 (0.66)

2.88 (0.29)

0.972 [0.00]

0.099 [2.98]

0.061 [3.91]

DFL area (mm2)

4.57 (0.51)

3.29 (0.38)

5.04 (0.51)

5.96 (0.27)

0.002 [12.73]

0.684 [0.17]

0.021 [6.24]

Anterior body area (mm2)

3.61 (0.50)

3.17 (1.11)

3.62 (0.49)

4.63 (0.49)

0.294 [1.16]

0.687 [0.17]

0.305 [1.14]

Posterior body area (mm2)

1.46 (0.31)

0.96 (0.39)

1.67 (0.50)

3.38 (0.54)

0.007 [9.04]

0.182 [1.91]

0.019 [6.46]

PFL representation (% total map)

17.28 (2.94)

35.59 (4.16)

21.50 (3.32)

17.03 (1.34)

0.032 [5.3]

0.037 [4.93]

0.001 [13.38]

DFL representation (% total map)

39.67 (4.21)

30.23 (2.70)

38.21 (2.77)

35.81 (2.15)

0.526 [0.42]

0.078 [3.43]

0.283 [1.22]

Anterior representation (% total map)

30.52 (3.28)

26.62 (5.53)

28.85 (4.77)

27.64 (2.77)

0.938 [0.01]

0.547 [0.37]

0.750 [0.10]

Posterior representation (% total map)

12.52 (2.57)

7.56 (3.22)

11.44 (2.88)

19.52 (2.28)

0.062 [3.90]

0.577 [0.32]

0.028 [5.6]

  1. Within 24 h of the last training-paired treatment session, cortical motor maps were obtained using ICMS. ICMS-evoked movements at threshold amplitudes were classified as proximal forelimb (PFL), distal forelimb (DFL), anterior body (vibrissa, jaw, or neck), or posterior body (trunk, hindlimb, or tail) movements. VNS treatment resulted in an expansion of the task-relevant proximal forelimb representation, which was blocked by M1 infusion of α2-AR antagonists. Bold denotes statistical significance (p < 0.05).
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