Changes in Corticospinal Excitability During Physiological Stress: a Pilot Study

Corticospinal excitability can be a key mechanism behind alterations in motor processes and observed movements under stress. The current study aims to compare the effectiveness of impulse transmission induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in probes before stress, immediately after stress, and during 30 minutes of recovery. Cold Pressor Task (CPT) was used to induce acute physiological stress. Seven volunteers participated in the study (6 females, M age = 22, SD = 6.37). The collected data included psychological questionnaires (Big Five Inventory, Differential Emotions Scale), Motor Evoked Potentials (MEP) recorded using electromyography (EMG), movement amplitudes registered using an accelerometer, and heart rate. The analysis found significant differences between motor responses in the first (before CPT stress induction) and the second (immediately after CPT) probes. The results suggest that stress can be a facilitatory factor for the corticospinal excitability. However, future research on a larger sample is needed to explore potential moderating factors, as well as the dynamics of the corticospinal system recovery from stress.