BRAIN REPRESENTATION OF ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MOVEMENTS

During active and passive (driven by a torque motor) flexion and exten sion of the right elbow, regional cerebral blood how (rCBF) was measur ed in six healthy, male volunteers using positron emission tomography and the standard (H2O)-O-15 injection technique. During active as well as during passive movements of the right elbow there were strong incr eases in rCBF, identical in location, amount, and extent in the contra lateral sensorimotor cortex, There were activations during both condit ions in the supplementary motor area (stronger and more inferior in th e active condition) and inferior parietal cortex (on the convexity dur ing active movements and in the depth of the central sulcus during pas sive movements). During active movements only, activations of the basa l ganglia and the cingulate gyrus were found, Brain activations during motor tasks are largely related to the processing of afferent informa tion. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.