M. Leonardo et al., A FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING STUDY OF CORTICAL REGIONS ASSOCIATED WITH MOTOR TASK EXECUTION AND MOTOR IDEATION IN HUMANS, Human brain mapping, 3(2), 1995, pp. 83-92
Citations number
41
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Although motor performance may be enhanced through mental practice, th
e neurophysiological substrate of mental stimulation (ideation) of a m
otor task is not well established. We used blood oxygen level-dependen
t contrast echo planar imaging at 1.5 T to identify regions of increas
ed neural activity during the performance and ideation of a motor task
. Five subjects performed a sequential finger-to-thumb opposition task
and also imagined themselves performing the task in the absence of ac
tual muscle movement. In all subjects, the left primary sensorimotor c
ortex showed more activation with actual movement than with motor idea
tion, but two subjects had significant activation with motor ideation.
The left premotor area showed comparable activation with both actual
and imagined performance in three subjects. These findings support the
involvement of the primary motor area as well as the premotor area in
motor ideation. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc