Corticospinal disinhibition during dual action

When attempting to perform two tasks simultaneously, the human motor as well as the cognitive system shows interference. Such interference often causes altered activation of the cortical area representing each task compared to the single task condition. We investigated changes in corticospinal inhibition during dual action by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Single-pulse TMS was applied to the left motor cortex, triggered by right leg movement (tibialis anterior muscle) while the right abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscle was moderately activated (10–20% of the maximal voluntary contraction). The background electromyography (EMG) activity of ADM was measured before and during the leg movement. The silent period (SP) and amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP) following magnetic stimulation in active ADM were compared for the conditions with and without leg movement. The mean area of the rectified EMG activity of ADM did not alter, while the SP was significantly shortened during leg movement compared to that without leg movement. MEP amplitude was comparable between the two conditions. These results suggest that corticospinal inhibition tested by the SP duration is reduced during the movement of another body part, presumably in order to help maintain muscle force by compensating interference-related alteration in motor cortical activation.