Substantial functional reorganization takes place in the motor cortex of adult primates after a focal ischemic infarct, as might occur in stroke. A subtotal lesion confined to a small portion of the representation of one hand was previously shown to result in a further loss of hand territory in the adjacent, undamaged cortex of adult squirrel monkeys. In the present study, retraining of skilled hand use after similar infarcts resulted in prevention of the loss of hand territory adjacent to the infarct. In some instances, the hand representations expanded into regions formerly occupied by representations of the elbow and shoulder. Functional reorganization in the undamaged motor cortex was accompanied by behavioral recovery of skilled hand function. These results suggest that, after local damage to the motor cortex, rehabilitative training can shape subsequent reorganization in the adjacent intact cortex, and that the undamaged motor cortex may play an important role in motor recovery.

1. Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) techniques were used to derive detailed maps of distal forelimb movement representations in primary motor cortex (area 4) of adult squirrel monkeys before and a few months after a focal ischemic infarct. 2. Infarcts caused a marked but transient deficit in use of the contralateral hand, as evidenced by increased use of the ipsilateral hand, and reduced performance on a task requiring skilled digit use. 3. Infarcts resulted in a widespread reduction in the areal extent of digit representations adjacent to the lesion, and apparent increases in adjacent proximal representations. 4. We conclude that substantial functional reorganization occurs in primary motor cortex of adult primates following a focal ischemic infarct, but at least in the absence of postinfarct training, the movements formerly represented in the infarcted zone do not reappear in adjacent cortical regions.

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A population of 194 lemurs (Lemur spp.), 116 males and 78 females, from 1 to 30 years of age, was assessed for lateralized hand use in simple food reaching with a minimum of 100 reaches per animal. A hand preference was present in 80% of the population with a bias for use of the left hand that was most characteristic of male lemurs and young lemurs. The results confirm the presence of lateralization in prosimians, and we interpret the sex and age differences in relation to current theories of neural lateralization.

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