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High Gamma Oscillations of Sensorimotor Cortex During Unilateral Movement in the Developing Brain: a MEG Study

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Abstract

Recent studies in adults have found consistent contralateral high gamma activities in the sensorimotor cortex during unilateral finger movement. However, no study has reported on this same phenomenon in children. We hypothesized that contralateral high gamma activities also exist in children during unilateral finger movement. Sixty normal children (6–17 years old) were studied with a 275-channel MEG system combined with synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM). Sixty participants displayed consistently contralateral event-related synchronization (C-ERS) within high gamma band (65–150 Hz) in the primary motor cortices (M1) of both hemispheres. Interestingly, nineteen younger children displayed ipsilateral event-related synchronization (I-ERS) within the high gamma band (65–150 Hz) just during their left finger movement. Both I-ERS and C-ERS were localized in M1. The incidence of I-ERS showed a significant decrease with age. Males had significantly higher odds of having ipsilateral activity compared to females. Noteworthy, high gamma C-ERS appeared consistently, while high gamma I-ERS changed with age. The asymmetrical patterns of neuromagnetic activities in the children’s brain might represent the maturational lateralization and/or specialization of motor function. In conclusion, the present results have demonstrated that contralateral high-gamma neuromagnetic activities are potential biomarkers for the accurate localization of the primary motor cortex in children. In addition, the interesting finding of the ipsilateral high-gamma neuromagnetic activities opens a new window for us to understand the developmental changes of the hemispherical functional lateralization in the motor system.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Trustee Grant to Dr. Jing Xiang from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, MLC 2015, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Xiaolin Huo, Yingying Wang, Rupesh Kotecha, Elijah G. Kirtman, Hisako Fujiwara, Ton Degrauw, Douglas F. Rose & Jing Xiang

  2. Bioelectromagnetic Lab, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiaolin Huo

  3. Department of Clinical Engineering, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Nat Hemasilpin

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  1. Xiaolin Huo
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  2. Yingying Wang
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  3. Rupesh Kotecha
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  9. Jing Xiang
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Correspondence to Xiaolin Huo.

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Huo, X., Wang, Y., Kotecha, R. et al. High Gamma Oscillations of Sensorimotor Cortex During Unilateral Movement in the Developing Brain: a MEG Study. Brain Topogr 23, 375–384 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-010-0151-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-010-0151-0

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