Comparative functional MRI study to assess brain activation upon active and passive finger movements in patients with...

To compare the effects of active and passive movements on brain activation in patients with cerebral infarction using fMRI.

Twenty-four hemiplegic patients with cerebral infarction were evaluated using fMRI. All patients performed active and passive finger opposition movements. Patients were instructed to perform the finger opposition movement for the active movement task. For the passive movement task, the subject's fingers were moved by the examiner to perform the finger opposition movement. Statistical parametric mapping software was used for statistical analyses and to process all data.

In the affected hemisphere, sensorimotor cortex (SMC) activation intensity and range were significantly stronger during the passive movement of the affected fingers compared to the active movement of the affected fingers (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between active and passive movements of unaffected fingers in SMC activation intensity and range in the unaffected hemisphere (p > 0.05). In addition, the passive movement activated many other regions of the brain. The brain regions activated by passive movements of the affected fingers tended to center toward the contralateral SMC.

Our findings suggest that passive movements induce cortical reorganization in patients with cerebral infarction. Therefore, passive movement is likely beneficial for motor function recovery in patients with cerebral infarction.