{"doi":"10.1002/hbm.25041","title":"Baseline sensorimotor GABA levels shape neuroplastic processes induced by motor learning in older adults","abstract":"Previous research in young adults has demonstrated that both motor learning and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) trigger decreases in the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the sensorimotor cortex, and these decreases are linked to greater learning. Less is known about the role of GABA in motor learning in healthy older adults, a knowledge gap that is surprising given the established aging-related reductions in sensorimotor GABA. Here, we examined the effects of motor learning and subsequent tDCS on sensorimotor GABA levels and resting-state functional connectivity in the brains of healthy older participants. Thirty-six older men and women completed a motor sequence learning task before receiving anodal or sham tDCS to the sensorimotor cortex. GABA-edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the sensorimotor cortex and resting-state (RS) functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired before and after learning/stimulation. At the group level, neither learning nor anodal tDCS significantly modulated GABA levels or RS connectivity among task-relevant regions. However, changes in GABA levels from the baseline to post-learning session were significantly related to motor learning magnitude, age, and baseline GABA. Moreover, the change in functional connectivity between task-relevant regions, including bilateral motor cortices, was correlated with baseline GABA levels. These data collectively indicate that motor learning-related decreases in sensorimotor GABA levels and increases in functional connectivity are limited to those older adults with higher baseline GABA levels and who learn the most. Post-learning tDCS exerted no influence on GABA levels, functional connectivity or the relationships among these variables in older adults.","journal":"Human Brain Mapping","year":2020,"id":93347,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":40,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9483,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":466010,"name":"Jost‐Julian Rumpf","orcid":"0000-0002-7357-713X","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466011,"name":"Elvire Verbaanderd","orcid":"0000-0002-6371-4727","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466012,"name":"Kirstin-Friederike Heise","orcid":"0000-0003-3666-8531","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466013,"name":"Nina Dolfen","orcid":"0000-0003-1637-9548","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466014,"name":"Stefan Sunaert","orcid":"0000-0002-1177-4680","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466015,"name":"Julien Doyon","orcid":"0000-0002-3788-4271","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466016,"name":"Joseph Claßen","orcid":"0000-0001-7182-6967","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466017,"name":"Dante Mantini","orcid":"0000-0001-6485-5559","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":254883,"name":"Nicolaas A.J. Puts","orcid":"0000-0003-1024-1927","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":238015,"name":"Richard A.E. Edden","orcid":"0000-0002-0671-7374","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466018,"name":"Geneviève Albouy","orcid":"0000-0002-5437-023X","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":459008,"name":"Stephan P. Swinnen","orcid":"0000-0001-7173-435X","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466009,"name":"Bradley R. King","orcid":"0000-0002-3010-8755","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":98,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T22:30:54.208860Z","pmid":"32583940","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}