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Functional MRI evidence for motor cortex reorganization adjacent to a lesion in a primary motor cortex
Sung Ho Jang1, Bong Soo Han, Yongmin Chang
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Yeungnam University School of Medicine, Taegu, South Korea.
Objective:
The object of this study was to verify motor cortex reorganization in patients with primary motor cortex injury using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Design:
Ten control subjects and two patients with primary motor cortex injury, caused by a traumatic brain injury in patient 1 and meningioma in patient 2, were evaluated. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed using the blood oxygenation level-dependent technique at 1.5 T with hand movements.
Results:
The contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex was activated by unaffected hand movements. However, only the contralateral primary sensory cortex in patient 1 and the premotor area in patient 2 were activated by affected hand movements, which were totally absent in control subjects.
Conclusion:
We believe that the hand motor function of injured primary motor cortex was shifted into the primary sensory cortex in patient 1 and premotor area in patient 2. In conclusion, this finding may reflect a functional reorganization of the motor area in patients with a primary motor cortex injury.