%A Vignaud,Philippe %A Damasceno,Caroline %A Poulet,Emmanuel %A Brunelin,Jérôme %D 2019 %J Frontiers in Human Neuroscience %C %F %G English %K depression,,TMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation),TMS - Motor-evoked potentials,Theta burst stimulation (TBS),neuroplasticity %Q %R 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00072 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2019-February-26 %9 Clinical Trial %# %! iTBS induced neuroplasticity in depression %* %< %T Impaired Modulation of Corticospinal Excitability in Drug-Free Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: A Theta-Burst Stimulation Study %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00072 %V 13 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 1662-5161 %X Impaired neural plasticity may be an important mechanism in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Coupled with electromyography (EMG), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a useful tool to evaluate corticospinal excitability and cortical neuroplasticity in living humans. The goal of this study was to compare rTMS-induced cortical plasticity changes in patients with MDD and in healthy volunteers. In this single-blind controlled study, 11 drug-free patients with MDD and 11 matched healthy controls were analyzed. Cortical excitability, measured by the amplitude of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by single-pulse TMS, was assessed before and repeatedly after (for 30 min) participants received a single session of intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) and continuous TBS (cTBS). rTMS was applied over the left motor cortex using a neuronavigation system. Intensity was set at 80% of the active motor threshold (AMT). A large interindividual variability was observed after both iTBS and cTBS in the two groups. At the group level, we observed impaired iTBS-induced neuroplasticity in patients with MDD compared to that in controls. No differences were observed between the groups regarding cTBS-induced neuroplasticity. Our results suggest impaired long-term potentiation (LTP)-like mechanisms in MDD.Clinical Trial Registration: www.Clinicaltrials.gov, identifier #NCT02438163.