A single, clinically relevant dose of the GABA_B agonist baclofen impairs visuomotor learning.

ABSTRACT:

Key points

Baclofen is a GABA_B agonist prescribed as a treatment for spasticity in stroke, brain injury and multiple sclerosis patients, who are often undergoing concurrent motor rehabilitation. Decreasing GABAergic inhibition is a key feature of motor learning and so there is a possibility that GABA agonist drugs, such as baclofen, could impair these processes, potentially impacting rehabilitation. Here, we examined the effect of 10 mg of baclofen, in 20 young healthy individuals, and found that the drug impaired retention of visuomotor learning with no significant effect on motor sequence learning. Overall baclofen did not alter transcranial magnetic stimulation-measured GABA_B inhibition, although the change in GABA_B inhibition correlated with asp

SUBMITTER: Johnstone A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7611062 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature