Genetic factors affecting neural plasticity

Electrophysiological stimulation has been proffered as having the potential to improve rehabilitation in stroke survivors suffering residual motor deficits. Interindividual variation exists in the response to these interventions, undoubtedly mediated at least in part by genetic factors. The thesis identified 3 candidate genes in neural plasticity, and determined their impact on the efficacy of paired associative stimulation (PAS) and transcranial direct current stimulation tDeS in forearm muscles, which are often the target of rehabilitation therapies . Three candidate genes in neural plasticity were examined- BDNF, COMT and ApoE. Genotype-mediated baseline differences in cortical excitability were found. Females who were homozygous for the BDNF val allele had significantly larger VO curves than those who carried a met allele. COMT val homozygotes showed a trend towards smaller VO curve area at baseline, which approached significance (p=O.0504). Baseline I/O curve area was undifferentiated across ApoE genotype groups.