FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC-RESONANCE STUDIES OF THE REORGANIZATION OF THE HUMAN HAND SENSORIMOTOR AREA AFTER UNILATERAL BRAIN INJURY IN THE PERINATAL-PERIOD

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map the hand sensori motor area of hemiparetic adolescents and young adults who had suffere d unilateral brain damage in the perinatal period. Unlike normal subje cts, who exhibit cortical activation primarily contralateral to volunt ary finger movements, the hemiparetic patients' intact hemispheres wer e equally activated by contralateral and ipsilateral finger movements. Our findings are consistent with previous clinical observations and a nimal experiments which suggest that the immature brain is able to reo rganize in response to focal injury.