A comparative analysis of the corticospinal tract nervous propagation and excitability threshold was carried out in young (25 subjects, age range 16-35 years) and in elderly (40 subjects, 51-86 years) populations of healthy volunteers. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the hand and foot muscles following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TCS) during complete relaxation and active contraction of the target muscles. Threshold intensities corresponded to the stimulator's output eliciting liminal MEPs in about 50% of stimuli during relaxation. It was found that threshold values of magnetic TCS were significantly higher in the elderly (44 +/- 6.4% vs 39 +/- 3.5% for the hand; 66 +/- 10.1% vs 56 +/- 6.7% for the foot; P < 0.001) than in the young subjects. Moreover, this index progressively increased with age (P < 0.001), whilst the propagation time along the central motor tracts did not parallel such an age-related trend.