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Effector‐dependent activity in the left dorsal premotor cortex in motor imagery
Author(s) -
Szameitat André J.,
Shen Shan,
Sterr Annette
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05920.x
Subject(s) - premotor cortex , functional magnetic resonance imaging , neuroscience , motor imagery , dorsum , psychology , effector , anatomy , medicine , biology , electroencephalography , microbiology and biotechnology , brain–computer interface
Although right‐ and left‐hand motor imagery (MI) typically results in lateralized cortical activation patterns in various areas, such an effect has never been observed in the left premotor cortex (PMC). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we tested whether the left PMC, which is supposed to be effector independent, i.e. it is activated irrespective of the hand used for MI, shows differential activation during right‐ and left‐hand MI of ecologically valid everyday actions. Results showed that the left dorsal PMC was activated more strongly during right‐ than left‐hand MI, and that the co‐varying quality of imagination could not explain the observed effects. We conclude that the left dorsal PMC incorporates effector‐dependent functionality and therefore is not fully generic for MI, as has been suggested before. Implications for clinical research are discussed.