Brain activity related to individuated finger movement demonstrated by simultaneous motion capture and fMRI

The ability to move fingers independently is essential for skilled hand use and relies on both biomechanical constraints and neural control. This study analysed finger independence and associated brain activation during individuated finger movements using simultaneous recordings of 3D kinematics and functional MRI.

Twenty-five right-handed persons (age 62.3 ± 8.2 years) performed flexion-extension movements with individual fingers repeated for each hand during fMRI acquisition. Finger independence was quantified using a 3D motion capture-based Individuation Index (II), and neural activity was analysed with whole-brain BOLD responses. Movement frequency was controlled for in the statistical models. Contrasts between individual fingers and the thumb were used to identify finger-specific brain control regions, followed by region-of-interest analyses of areas commonly activated by fingers with low II. Laterality indices assessed inter-finger differences in hemispheric activation patterns.

II were significantly higher for thumbs (0.98 ± 0.01) and index fingers (0.95 ± 0.03). The middle, ring, and little fingers showed comparable, lower II across both hands, with associations to increased activation in motor-related regions such as contralateral postcentral gyrus, ipsilateral cerebellum and ipsilateral central operculum. Laterality indices decreased with decreasing finger individuation, with significant reductions for the ring and little fingers compared to the index finger in parietal and postcentral regions.

The findings support that lower finger individuation ability is associated with increased recruitment of bilateral sensorimotor and ipsilateral cerebellar regions, even though the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The integration of kinematic recordings in motor fMRI paradigms may be particularly useful for studying populations with impaired motor control, where variability in movement performance may otherwise confound interpretation of neural activation patterns.