Interindividual variability in resting motor threshold (RMT) reflects baseline differences in corticospinal tract excitability and brain sensitivity to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). However, the impact of baseline motor system neural oscillation on RMT remains unknown. We used a cross-sectional observational study. RMTs and resting-state electroencephalograms were collected in a single experimental session from 95 participants in our study. The characteristics of neural oscillations are reflected by power spectral density (PSD) and phase locking value (PLV) in different bands. We found significant weak-to-moderate negative correlations of RMT with delta-band PSD in bilateral central and frontal regions, as well as theta-band PLV in bilateral central regions. Together, these measures accounted for approximately 18.5% of the variance in RMT. Our findings enhance the understanding of how resting-state neural oscillations modulate the brain’s sensitivity to TMS and provide new insights for developing more effective TMS strategies.
Jin et al. (Mon,) studied this question.