Effect of acute transcranial magnetic stimulation on intracellular signalling in human skeletal muscle

To investigate the potential of an acute bout of transcranial electrical stimulation to induce anabolic signalling. Experimental intervention on healthy subjects. Ten healthy subjects, 5 women and 5 men (mean age (standard deviation (SD) 32 years (SD 4)). The quadriceps muscle was stimulated at a frequency of 10 Hz for 10 s, followed by 20 s of rest, repeated 40 times over 20 min. Electromyography and force data were collected for all transcranial electrical stimulation sequences. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle before and 1 and 3 h after stimulation. One bout of transcranial electrical stimulation decreased phosphorylation of AKT at Thr308 (1 h: -29%, 3 h: -38%; p