Table 1.
Comparison of motor map areas across treatment groups.
| Vehicle | α2-AR antag. | 2-way ANOVA | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sham | VNS | Sham | VNS | pDrug [FDrug] | pVNS [FVNS] | pinteraction [Finteraction] | |
| Group mean (SEM) | |||||||
| Total map area (mm2) | 11.68 (0.63) | 11.29 (1.55) | 13.33 (1.15) | 16.83 (0.93) | 0.003 [10.98] | 0.166 [2.05] | 0.088 [3.20] |
| PFL area (mm2) | 2.04 (0.41) | 3.88 (0.57) | 3.00 (0.66) | 2.88 (0.29) | 0.972 [0.00] | 0.099 [2.98] | 0.061 [3.91] |
| DFL area (mm2) | 4.57 (0.51) | 3.29 (0.38) | 5.04 (0.51) | 5.96 (0.27) | 0.002 [12.73] | 0.684 [0.17] | 0.021 [6.24] |
| Anterior body area (mm2) | 3.61 (0.50) | 3.17 (1.11) | 3.62 (0.49) | 4.63 (0.49) | 0.294 [1.16] | 0.687 [0.17] | 0.305 [1.14] |
| Posterior body area (mm2) | 1.46 (0.31) | 0.96 (0.39) | 1.67 (0.50) | 3.38 (0.54) | 0.007 [9.04] | 0.182 [1.91] | 0.019 [6.46] |
| PFL representation (% total map) | 17.28 (2.94) | 35.59 (4.16) | 21.50 (3.32) | 17.03 (1.34) | 0.032 [5.3] | 0.037 [4.93] | 0.001 [13.38] |
| DFL representation (% total map) | 39.67 (4.21) | 30.23 (2.70) | 38.21 (2.77) | 35.81 (2.15) | 0.526 [0.42] | 0.078 [3.43] | 0.283 [1.22] |
| Anterior representation (% total map) | 30.52 (3.28) | 26.62 (5.53) | 28.85 (4.77) | 27.64 (2.77) | 0.938 [0.01] | 0.547 [0.37] | 0.750 [0.10] |
| Posterior representation (% total map) | 12.52 (2.57) | 7.56 (3.22) | 11.44 (2.88) | 19.52 (2.28) | 0.062 [3.90] | 0.577 [0.32] | 0.028 [5.6] |
Within 24 h of the last training-paired treatment session, cortical motor maps were obtained using ICMS. ICMS-evoked movements at threshold amplitudes were classified as proximal forelimb (PFL), distal forelimb (DFL), anterior body (vibrissa, jaw, or neck), or posterior body (trunk, hindlimb, or tail) movements. VNS treatment resulted in an expansion of the task-relevant proximal forelimb representation, which was blocked by M1 infusion of α2-AR antagonists. Bold denotes statistical significance (p < 0.05).