Altered Motor-Striatal Plasticity and Cortical Functioning in Patients with Schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia undergo changes in brain plasticity. In the present study, we characterized motor cortical-striatal plasticity in such patients. Compared with the potentiation following high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the control group, the patients demonstrated impaired plasticity of corticostriatal motor-evoked potentials recorded from hand muscles.Notably, the loss of cortical plasticity was correlated with impaired motor learning in a rotary pursuit task. Moreover,the loss of plasticity was correlated with the symptoms of schizophrenia. The results suggest that the progression of schizophrenia is accompanied by altered cortical plasticity and functioning.