Figure 5
Effect of 20 min of unilateral arm cycling with bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the erector spinae (ES) muscle. (A) MEP traces recorded from the ES muscle of a representative participant. Traces show the average of 10 MEPs in the ES muscle before (grey graces) and after (black traces) 20 min of unilateral arm cycling with bilateral tDCS or sham-tDCS (s-tDCS). (B) Group data (n = 15) showing ES MEPs after 20 min of unilateral arm cycling with bilateral tDCS (unfilled) and sham-tDCS (s-tDCS, pattern). The abscissa shows the time points measured after cessation of the arm cycling and the ordinate shows the size of ES MEP (as a % of baseline ES MEP). The horizontal dashed line represents the size of the ES MEP at baseline. Note that the size of ES MEP increases after the arm cycling in the bilateral tDCS condition but remains the same in the s-tDCS condition. (C) Individual data showing that majority of participants demonstrate increases in ES MEP after 20 min of arm cycling with bilateral tDCS. The increases in ES MEP are less clear in the s-tDCS condition. Error bars indicate the standard error of the mean (SEM). *p < 0.05, comparison between post-exercise and baseline.
