{"doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2020.592013","title":"Integration of Convergent Sensorimotor Inputs Within Spinal Reflex Circuits in Healthy Adults","abstract":"The output from motor neuron pools is influenced by the integration of synaptic inputs originating from descending corticomotor and spinal reflex pathways. In this study, using paired non-invasive brain and peripheral nerve stimulation, we investigated how descending corticomotor pathways influence the physiologic recruitment order of the soleus Hoffmann (H-) reflex. Eleven neurologically unimpaired adults (9 females; mean age 25 ± 3 years) completed an assessment of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-conditioning of the soleus H-reflex over a range of peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) intensities. Unconditioned H-reflex recruitment curves were obtained by delivering PNS pulses to the posterior tibial nerve. Subsequently, TMS-conditioned H-reflex recruitment curves were obtained by pairing PNS with subthreshold TMS at short (-1.5 ms) and long (+10 ms) intervals. We evaluated unconditioned and TMS-conditioned H-reflex amplitudes along the ascending limb, peak, and descending limb of the H-reflex recruitment curve. Our results revealed that, for long-interval facilitation, TMS-conditioned H-reflex amplitudes were significantly larger than unconditioned H-reflex amplitudes along the ascending limb and peak of the H-reflex recruitment curve. Additionally, significantly lower PNS intensities were needed to elicit peak H-reflex amplitude (Hmax) for long-interval facilitation compared to unconditioned. These findings suggest that the influence of descending corticomotor pathways, particularly those mediating long-interval facilitation, contribute to changing the recruitment gain of the motor neuron pool, and can inform future methodological protocols for TMS-conditioning of H-reflexes. By characterizing and inducing short-term plasticity in circuitry mediating short- and long-interval TMS-conditioning of H-reflex amplitudes, future studies can investigate supraspinal and spinal circuit contributions to abnormal motor control, as well as develop novel therapeutic targets for neuromodulation.","journal":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","year":2020,"id":85481,"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":6,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.953,"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":437383,"name":"Jiang Xu","orcid":"0000-0003-3436-2504","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":438500,"name":"Maruf Hoque","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":438501,"name":"Carly McMullen","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":277102,"name":"Trisha M. Kesar","orcid":"0000-0001-6436-1487","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":285856,"name":"Michael R. Borich","orcid":"0000-0001-9897-9867","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":438499,"name":"Alejandro J. Lopez","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":65,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T21:58:16.217017Z","pmid":"33324184","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":[]}