Open AccessThe role of the unaffected hemisphere in motor recovery after stroke
Author(s) -
Riecker Axel,
Gröschel Klaus,
Ackermann Hermann,
Schnaudigel Sonja,
Kassubek Jan,
Kastrup Andreas
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20914
Subject(s) - motor cortex , supplementary motor area , stroke (engine) , psychology , neuroscience , premotor cortex , primary motor cortex , neuroplasticity , cortex (anatomy) , lateralization of brain function , motor system , physical medicine and rehabilitation , sma* , haemodynamic response , medicine , functional magnetic resonance imaging , anatomy , heart rate , dorsum , physics , mathematics , combinatorics , stimulation , blood pressure , thermodynamics
The contribution of the ipsilateral (nonaffected) hemisphere to recovery of motor function after stroke is controversial. Under the assumption that functionally relevant areas within the ipsilateral motor system should be tightly coupled to the demand we used fMRI and acoustically paced movements of the right index finger at six different frequencies to define the role of these regions for recovery after stroke. Eight well‐recovered patients with a chronic striatocapsular infarction of the left hemisphere were compared with eight age‐matched participants. As expected the hemodynamic response increased linearly with the frequency of the finger movements at the level of the left supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and the left primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC) in both groups. In contrast, a linear increase of the hemodynamic response with higher tapping frequencies in the right premotor cortex (PMC) and the right SMC was only seen in the patient group. These results support the model of an enhanced bihemispheric recruitment of preexisting motor representations in patients after subcortical stroke. Since all patients had excellent motor recovery contralesional SMC activation appears to be efficient and resembles the widespread, bilateral activation observed in healthy participants performing complex movements, instead of reflecting maladaptive plasticity. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.