Abstract
The purpose of this study was to show a gradient of possible bilateral activation for movements of the non-dominant vs. dominant hand, as well as for areas involved in complex vs. simple hand movements. A standard 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system has been utilized to localize the cortical motor hand areas, using the blood oxygen level dependent contrast (BOLDc) technique and single-section fast low-angle shot (FLASH) imaging. Ten normal right-handed subjects volunteered for the study. The motor tasks consisted of simple (flexion-extension) finger movements of either hand, and complex movements (finger-to-thumb opposition in a repeating, pre-planned sequence) of the non-dominant hand.
Simple movements caused contralateral activation of the primary motor area (MA); ipsilateral activation was observed for the non-dominant hand only. Supplementary motor area (SMA) was also activated, with a clear contralateral prevalence. The ratio of bilateral activation of MA did not change with complex movements of the non-dominant hand, while SMA as well as lateral premotor area were largely bilaterally activated in this task. In conclusion, the ipsilateral MA is activated for movements — even simple — performed with the non-dominant hand. There is widespread functional activity, involving both contralateral and ipsilateral SMA, for complex movements.
Sommario
Scopo di questo studio è stato quello di dimostrare la possibile differenza di attivazione bilaterale per i movimenti delta mano non-dominants nei confronti di quella dominante come pure il diverso coinvolgimento delle aree corticali motorie durante l'esecuzione di movimenti complessi della mano rispetto ai movimenti semplici. È stato utilizzato un apparecchio standard di risonanza magnetica di 1,5 T, per tocalizzare le aree corticali motorie delta mano, utilizzando la tecnica BOLDc ed immagini FLASH a singola sezione. 10 soggetti destrimani sani sono stati utilizzati come volontari per to studio; gli stimoli motori consistevano nell'esecuzione di movimenti semplici (flesso-estensione delle dita) da parte sia delta mano dominante the di quella non dominante, e di movimenti complessi (opposizione delle 4 dita al pollice in maniera ripetuta secondo una sequenza stabilita, 2,4,3,5) da parte delta mano non-dominants.
L'esecuzione dei movimenti semplici ha determinato l'attivazione controlaterale dell'area motoria primaria (MA); attivazione ipsilaterale è stata osservata solo per la mano non dominante. Anche l'area supplementare motoria (SMA) è stata attivata, con chiara prevalenza per quella controlaterale. L'entità di attivazione bilaterale delta MA non cambiava con l'esecuzione di movimenti complessi, mentre la SMA, così come l'area premotoria laterale (LPA), erano maggiormente attivate in entrambi i lati con questo tipo di stimolo.
In conclusione, la MA ipsilaterale è attivata per movimenti — anche se semplici — eseguiti con la mano non-dominants; esiste una notevole attività funzionale, comprendente la SMA sia controlaterale che ipsilaterale, durante l'esecuzione di movimenti complessi.
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Beltramello, A., Cerini, R., Puppini, G. et al. Motor representation of the hand in the human cortex: an f-MRI study with a conventional 1.5 T clinical unit. Ital J Neuro Sci 19, 277–284 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00713853
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00713853