scholarly journals Motor Training Increases the Stability of Activation Patterns in the Primary Motor Cortex

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e53555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Huang ◽  
Zonglei Zhen ◽  
Yiying Song ◽  
Qi Zhu ◽  
Song Wang ◽  
...  
2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 1099-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Kaelin-Lang ◽  
Lumy Sawaki ◽  
Leonardo G. Cohen

Motor training consisting of repetitive thumb movements results in encoding of motor memories in the primary motor cortex. It is not known if proprioceptive input originating in the training movements is sufficient to produce this effect. In this study, we compared the ability of training consisting of voluntary (active) and passively-elicited (passive) movements to induce this form of plasticity. Active training led to successful encoding accompanied by characteristic changes in corticomotor excitability, while passive training did not. These results support a pivotal role for voluntary motor drive in coding motor memories in the primary motor cortex.


2004 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 2110-2116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrin M. Bütefisch ◽  
Vikram Khurana ◽  
Leonid Kopylev ◽  
Leonardo G. Cohen

Motor training results in encoding of motor memories, a form of use-dependent plasticity. Here we tested the hypothesis that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) synchronously applied to a motor cortex engaged in a motor training task could enhance this plastic process. Healthy volunteers were studied in four sessions: training consisting of performance of directionally specific voluntary thumb movements ( Train alone), training with TMS delivered during the execution of the training movement in a strictly temporal relationship to the motor cortex contralateral ( Train+ TMS synchronouscontra) and ipsilateral ( Train+ TMS synchronousipsi) to the training hand, and training with TMS delivered asynchronous to the training movement to the motor cortex contralateral to the training hand ( Train+ TMS asynchronouscontra). Train alone, Train+ TMS synchronouscontra, and Train+ TMS asynchronouscontra but not Train+ TMS synchronousipsi elicited a clear motor memory. The longevity of the encoded memory was significantly enhanced by Train+ TMS synchronouscontra when compared with Train alone and Train+ TMS asynchronouscontra. Therefore use-dependent encoding of a motor memory can be enhanced by synchronous Hebbian stimulation of the motor cortex that drives the training task and reduced by stimulation of the homologous ipsilateral motor cortex, a result relevant for studies of cognitive and physical rehabilitation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 2021-2032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan A. Heming ◽  
Timothy P. Lillicrap ◽  
Mohsen Omrani ◽  
Troy M. Herter ◽  
J. Andrew Pruszynski ◽  
...  

Primary motor cortex (M1) activity correlates with many motor variables, making it difficult to demonstrate how it participates in motor control. We developed a two-stage process to separate the process of classifying the motor field of M1 neurons from the process of predicting the spatiotemporal patterns of its motor field during reaching. We tested our approach with a neural network model that controlled a two-joint arm to show the statistical relationship between network connectivity and neural activity across different motor tasks. In rhesus monkeys, M1 neurons classified by this method showed preferred reaching directions similar to their associated muscle groups. Importantly, the neural population signals predicted the spatiotemporal dynamics of their associated muscle groups, although a subgroup of atypical neurons reversed their directional preference, suggesting a selective role in antagonist control. These results highlight that M1 provides important details on the spatiotemporal patterns of muscle activity during motor skills such as reaching.


Author(s):  
Maziar Jalalvandi ◽  
Hamid Sharini ◽  
Yousof Naderi ◽  
Nader RiahiAlam

Purpose: Nowadays, the number of people diagnosed with movement disorders is increasing. Therefore, the evaluation of brain activity during motor task performance has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a useful method that measures hemodynamic changes in the brain cortex based on optical principles. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the brain’s cortical activation in passive movement of the wrist. Materials and Methods: In current study, the activation of the brain's motor cortex during passive movement of the right wrist was investigated. To perform this study, ten healthy young right-handed volunteers were chosen. The required data were collected using a commercial 48-channel continuous wave fNIRS machine, using two different wavelengths of 765 and 855 nm at 10 Hz sampling rate. Results: Analysis of collected data showed that the brain's motor cortex during passive motion was significantly activated (p≤0.05) compared to rest. Motor cortex activation patterns depending on passive movement direction were separated. In different directions of wrist movement, the maximum activation was recorded at the primary motor cortex (M1). Conclusion: The present study has investigated the ability of fNIRS to evaluate cortical activation during passive movement of the wrist. Analysis of recording signals showed that different directions of movement have specific activation patterns in the motor cortex.


2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 893-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. Milner ◽  
David W. Franklin ◽  
Hiroshi Imamizu ◽  
Mitsuo Kawato

To explore the neural mechanisms related to representation of the manipulation dynamics of objects, we performed whole-brain fMRI while subjects balanced an object in stable and highly unstable states and while they balanced a rigid object and a flexible object in the same unstable state, in all cases without vision. In this way, we varied the extent to which an internal model of the manipulation dynamics was required in the moment-to-moment control of the object's orientation. We hypothesized that activity in primary motor cortex would reflect the amount of muscle activation under each condition. In contrast, we hypothesized that cerebellar activity would be more strongly related to the stability and complexity of the manipulation dynamics because the cerebellum has been implicated in internal model-based control. As hypothesized, the dynamics-related activation of the cerebellum was quite different from that of the primary motor cortex. Changes in cerebellar activity were much greater than would have been predicted from differences in muscle activation when the stability and complexity of the manipulation dynamics were contrasted. On the other hand, the activity of the primary motor cortex more closely resembled the mean motor output necessary to execute the task. We also discovered a small region near the anterior edge of the ipsilateral (right) inferior parietal lobule where activity was modulated with the complexity of the manipulation dynamics. We suggest that this is related to imagining the location and motion of an object with complex manipulation dynamics.


2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 773-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumi Murata ◽  
Noriyuki Higo ◽  
Takao Oishi ◽  
Akiko Yamashita ◽  
Keiji Matsuda ◽  
...  

To investigate the effects of postlesion training on motor recovery, we compared the motor recovery of macaque monkeys that had received intensive motor training with those that received no training after a lesion of the primary motor cortex (M1). An ibotenic acid lesion in the M1 digit area resulted in impairment of hand function, with complete loss of digit movement. In the monkeys that had undergone intensive daily training (1 h/day, 5 days/wk) after the lesion, behavioral indexes used to evaluate manual dexterity recovered to the same level as in the prelesion period after 1 or 2 mo of postlesion training period. Relatively independent digit movements, including precision grip (prehension of a small object with finger-to-thumb opposition), were restored in the trained monkeys. Although the behavioral indexes of manual dexterity recovered to some extent in the monkeys without the postlesion training, they remained lower than those in the prelesion period until several months after M1 lesion. The untrained monkeys frequently used alternate grip strategies to grasp a small object with the affected hand, holding food pellets between the tip of the index finger and the dorsum of the thumb. These results suggest that the recovery after M1 lesion includes both use-dependent and use-independent processes and that the recovery of precision grip can be promoted by intensive use of the affected hand in postlesion training.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 3494-3507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Kida ◽  
Yasumasa Tsuda ◽  
Nana Ito ◽  
Yui Yamamoto ◽  
Yuji Owada ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Pirog Revill ◽  
Marc W. Haut ◽  
Samir R. Belagaje ◽  
Fadi Nahab ◽  
Daniel Drake ◽  
...  

Background. Stroke often involves primary motor cortex (M1) and its corticospinal (CST) projections. As hand function is critically dependent on these structures, its recovery is often incomplete. Objective. To determine whether impaired hand function in patients with chronic ischemic stroke involving M1 or CST benefits from the enhancing effect of Hebbian-type stimulation (pairing M1 afferent stimulation and M1 activity in a specific temporal relationship) on M1 plasticity and hand function. Methods. In a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled design, 20 patients with chronic ischemic stroke affecting M1 or CST were randomly assigned to 5 days of hand motor training that was combined with either Hebbian-type (trainingHebb) or sham stimulation (trainingsham) of the lesioned M1. Measures of hand function and task-based M1 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity were collected prior to, immediately following, and 4 weeks after the intervention. Results. Both interventions were effective in improving affected hand function at the completion of training, but only participants in the trainingHebb group maintained functional gains. Changes in hand function and fMRI activity were positively correlated in both ipsilesional and contralesional M1. Compared with trainingsham, participants in the trainingHebb group showed a stronger relationship between improved hand function and changes in M1 functional activity. Conclusions. Only when motor training was combined with Hebbian-type stimulation were functional gains maintained over time and correlated with measures of M1 functional plasticity. As hand dexterity is critically dependent on M1 function, these results suggest that functional reorganization in M1 is facilitated by Hebbian-type stimulation. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01569607.


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