Increased corticospinal inhibition following brief maximal and submaximal contractions in humans

Abstract

The transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced silent period reflects a transient state of corticospinal inhibition that is influenced by recent history of muscle activation, which may include an effect of potentiation. We demonstrate that silent period duration increases following both voluntary and electrically evoked maximal and submaximal conditioning contractions, even though the latter intensity produced virtually no muscle potentiation. Feedback from group Ia and Ib muscle afferents is proposed as the cause of the increased corticospinal inhibition.