Large scale networks for human hand-object interaction: Functionally distinct roles for two premotor regions identified intraoperatively

Publication date: Available online 24 September 2019Source: NeuroImageAuthor(s): Luciano Simone, Luca Fornia, Luca Viganò, Fabio Sambataro, Marco Rossi, Antonella Leonetti, Guglielmo Puglisi, Henrietta Howells, Andrea Bellacicca, Lorenzo Bello, Gabriella CerriThe development of awake intraoperative brain-mapping procedures for resection of brain tumors is of growing interest in neuroscience, because it enables direct testing of brain tissue, previously only possible in non-human primates. In a recent study performed in this setting specific effects can be induced by direct electrical stimulation on different sectors of premotor cortex during the execution of a hand manipulation task. Specifically, direct electrical stimulation applied on a dorsal sector of precentral cortex led to an increase in motor unit recruitment in hand muscles during execution of a hand manipulation task (Recruitment sector). The opposite effect was elicited when electrical stimulation was delivered more ventrally on the precentral cortex (Suppression sector). We studied whether the different effects on motor behavior induced by direct electrical stimulation applied on the two sites of the precentral cortex underlie differences in their functional connectivity with other brain areas, measured using resting state fMRI. Using healthy adults scanned as part of the Human Connectome Project, we computed the functional connectivity of each sector used as seeds. The functional connectivity patterns of the tw...
Source: NeuroImage - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research