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The Journal of Neuroscience, July 15, 2009, 29(28):8897-8900; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2112-09.2009

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Brief Communications
Heritability of Intracortical Inhibition and Facilitation

Maria Concetta Pellicciari,¹ Domenica Veniero,^1,2 Cristina Marzano,³ Fabio Moroni,³ Cornelia Pirulli,² Giuseppe Curcio,⁴ Michele Ferrara,⁴ Carlo Miniussi,^1,2 Paolo Maria Rossini,^5,6,7 and Luigi De Gennaro^1,3

¹Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Giovanni di Dio, Fatebenefratelli, Brescia 25125, Italy, ²Department of Biomedical Science and Biotechnology, University of Brescia, Brescia 25121, Italy, ³Department of Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome 00185, Italy, ⁴Department of Health Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila 67100, Italy, ⁵IRCCS e Casa di Cura San Raffaele Rome, Rome 00187, Italy, ⁶IRCCS e Casa di Cura San Raffaele Cassino, Cassino 03043, Italy, and ⁷Neurology Clinic, University Campus Biomedico, Rome 00155, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Luigi De Gennaro, Department of Psychology, Section of Neuroscience, University of Rome "Sapienza," Via dei Marsi 78, Rome 00185, Italy. Email: luigi.degennaro{at}uniroma1.it

The present twin study investigates heritability of motor cortex excitability, measured by the paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation technique. Specifically, intracortical facilitation (ICF) and inhibition (ICI) and corticospinal excitability were tested in monozygotic (MZ), dizygotic (DZ), and unrelated pairs (UP). Robust ICF and ICI effects were found, with a higher similarity of MZ than DZ and UP pairs. Heritability estimates (h²) were 0.80 for ICI and 0.92 for ICF. However, corticospinal excitability did not show significant differences between MZ and DZ pairs, whereas both significantly differed from UP. Hence, the study provides—for the first time—a clear evidence of heritable individual differences in motor cortex excitability.

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Received May 5, 2009; accepted June 5, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Luigi De Gennaro, Department of Psychology, Section of Neuroscience, University of Rome "Sapienza," Via dei Marsi 78, Rome 00185, Italy. Email: luigi.degennaro{at}uniroma1.it

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