Application of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in Exercise Respons and Exercise Adaptations

Increased strength after a period of resistance training or following relatively intense contractions (post-activation potentiation) and decreased strength after repetitive contractions (fatigue) or after static stretching movements (post-activation depression) are not only related to the muscle but also the nerve system. Over the past years, numerous methods such as surface electromyography (sEMG), evoked spinal reflex recording, and single motor unit recording has been used to prove the role of neurological factors in transient and sustainable changes in strength. Over the past 30 years, new methods such as TMS have been used to investigate neural mechanisms in response and adaptation to resistance exercise, and the importance of evoked and central nervous system activation in the occurrence of exercise fatigue and adaptation induced by resistance training has been demonstrated.

 In this study, the fundamentals and applications of TMS are briefly discussed.

The results showed that the level of excitability, especially in the motor cortex, increases following relatively intense contractions and after a period of resistance training but decreases after exhausting exercise and does not change after static stretching movements.

Although TMS is a valuable method for quantifying the contribution of neurological factors, it could not uncover whole mechanisms and adaptations that occur following the intervention, and a combination of methods in the field of neuroscience- should be used to provide more insight into cortical function and plasticity in response to acute and chronic exercise.