Extensive training of elementary finger tapping movements changes the pattern of motor cortex excitability

Koeneke, Susan; Lutz, Kai; Herwig, Uwe; Ziemann, Ulf; Jäncke, Lutz

doi:10.1007/s00221-006-0440-8

Cited by 114 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…The present data support findings of recent studies that unilateral ballistic motor training can cause bilateral changes in corticospinal excitability (10,20), although the previous studies did not assess performance transfer. Interestingly, Duque et al (10) reported a reduction in MEP amplitude in the untrained hand in response to unilateral finger abduction practice in which they viewed their moving finger.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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Unilateral practice of a ballistic movement causes bilateral increases in performance and corticospinal excitability

Carroll

Lee

Hsu

et al. 2008

Journal of Applied Physiology

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Carroll TJ, Lee M, Hsu M, Sayde J. Unilateral practice of a ballistic movement causes bilateral increases in performance and corticospinal excitability. J Appl Physiol 104: 1656-1664. First published April 10, 2008 doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01351.2007.-It has long been known that practicing a task with one limb can result in performance improvements with the opposite, untrained limb. Hypotheses to account for cross-limb transfer of performance state that the effect is mediated either by neural adaptations in higher order control centers that are accessible to both limbs, or that there is a "spillover" of neural drive to the opposite hemisphere that results in bilateral adaptation. Here we address these hypotheses by assessing performance and corticospinal excitability in both hands after unilateral practice of a ballistic finger movement. Participants (n ϭ 9) completed 300 practice trials of a ballistic task with the right hand, the aim of which was to maximize the peak abduction acceleration of the index finger. Practice caused a 140% improvement in right-hand performance and an 82% improvement for the untrained left hand. There were bilateral increases in the amplitude of responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation, but increased corticospinal excitability was not correlated with improved performance. There were no significant changes in corticospinal excitability or task performance for a control group that did not train (n ϭ 9), indicating that performance testing for the left hand alone did not induce performance or corticospinal effects. Although the data do not provide conclusive evidence whether increased corticospinal excitability in the untrained hand is causally related to the cross-transfer of ballistic performance, the finding that ballistic practice can induce bilateral corticospinal adaptations may have important clinical implications for movement rehabilitation. motor control; training; transcranial magnetic stimulation; human; motor cortex THERE IS AN EXTENSIVE LITERATURE, stemming from the mid 19th century, that unilateral motor practice can result in bilateral performance improvements (see Refs. 1, 2, 36). This effect has been variously termed "cross-transfer," "cross-education," and "interlimb transfer," and it has been demonstrated for a wide range of motor tasks including mirror tracing, movement tasks under visuomotor rotations and novel force field conditions, execution of multifinger tapping sequences, exertion of maximal force, and tasks requiring fine control of movement timing and force (e.g., Refs. 3,11,32,33,41,43,44). Most theoretical attempts to account for cross-transfer are based on the idea that the neural adaptations underlying improved performance with the trained limb must reside at a central nervous system (CNS) site that is also accessible for the control of the contralateral limb (e.g., Refs. 15, 21, 42). Here we test an alternative hypothesis, proposed by Parlow and Kinsbourne (30), that certain types of cross-transfer occur because practice induces bilateral neural a...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Thus the data do not provide conclusive evidence that the spillover hypothesis is a mechanism that contributes to the cross-transfer of ballistic motor skill. They do, however, extend recent evidence that unilateral ballistic practice can cause lasting effects on ipsilateral cortical excitability (10,20).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 43%

Unilateral practice of a ballistic movement causes bilateral increases in performance and corticospinal excitability

Carroll

Lee

Hsu

et al. 2008

Journal of Applied Physiology

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“…Given this, our results are not inconsistent with previous findings, and they underscore the importance of considering the entire handedness and laterality spectrum. It is also not clear whether these handedness effects arise during development or are a function of extended experience, particularly given evidence that practice results in increased corticospinal excitability in both hemispheres (both contra-and ipsilateral to practice) (Koeneke et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handedness, Dexterity, and Motor Cortical Representations

Taylor²,

Seidler

2011

Journal of Neurophysiology

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. Motor system organization varies with handedness. However, previous work has focused almost exclusively on direction of handedness (right or left) as opposed to degree of handedness (strength). In the present study, we determined whether measures of interhemispheric interactions and degree of handedness are related to contra-and ipsilateral motor cortical representations. Participants completed a battery of handedness assessments including both handedness preference measures and behavioral measures of intermanual differences in dexterity, a computerized version of the Poffenberger paradigm (PP) to estimate interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT), and they underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) mapping of both motor cortices while we recorded muscle activity from the first dorsal interosseous muscle bilaterally. A greater number of ipsilateral motor evoked potentials (iMEPs) were elicited in less lateralized individuals with the number of iMEPs correlated with IHTT. There were no relationships between handedness or lateralization of dexterity and symmetry of contralateral motor representations, although this symmetry was related to IHTT. Finally, IHTT was positively correlated with multiple measures of laterality and handedness. These findings demonstrate that degree of laterality of dexterity is related to the propensity for exhibiting iMEPs and the speed of interhemispheric interactions. However, it is not clear whether iMEPs are directly mediated via ipsilateral corticospinal projections or are transcallosally transmitted. I N T R O D U C T I O NIt is known that handedness is related to the organization of the sensorimotor system. For example, there is some evidence to indicate that left-and right-handers may differ in corpus callosum morphology (Habib et al. 1991;Westerhausen et al. 2004;Witelson 1985) and organization of motor cortical representations (Amunts et al. 1996;Dassonville et al. 1997;Kim et al. 1993;Volkmann et al. 1998). These neuroanatomical differences have been linked to behavior as well with lefthanders typically having faster and more accurate interhemispheric transmission than right-handers (Cherbuin and Brinkman 2006a,b;Marzi et al. 1991). However, the majority of work investigating relationships between handedness, neuroanatomy, and behavior has evaluated direction of handedness (left vs. right) as opposed to degree of handedness (how strongly handed one is), although there is evidence to support the importance of the latter (Dassonville et al. 1997;Luders et al. 2010;Siebner et al. 2002;Solodkin et al. 2001). Organization of motor cortex and handednessMotor cortex physiology is related to handedness. For example, left-and right-handers show different functional activation patterns in the primary motor cortex (M1) when performing motor tasks. Right-handers show more asymmetrical activation in M1, predominantly in the dominant (left) hemisphere, whereas left-handers show more bilateral activity (Kim et al. 1993;Siebner et al. 2002). Those that are more mixedhanded show the most ...

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“…Many studies using neuroimaging techniques have reported that motor training composed of finger movements, such as piano play or SRT tasks, results in performance improvement and characteristic reorganizational changes in the motor cortex [6][7][8][9] . These studies have suggested that the connection between neural network and motor skill learning is related to the finding that the extent of specific cortical representation can increase or decrease during learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Cerebral and Cerebellar Activation Patterns Induced by Short-term Sequence Learning of a Serial Reaction Time Task: an fMRI Study

Kwon¹,

Park

2013

J Phys Ther Sci

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Abstract.[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural mechanisms of the brain regions activated by training dependent changes in large-scale motor networks induced by performance of sequential motor learning, using functional MRI.[Method] Twenty healthy subjects were recruited, who were randomly allocated to the training or control group. The training group performed a serial reaction time task for two weeks, whereas the control group did not receive any training. Behavioral assessment was conducted in terms of response accuracy and reaction time during pre-and post-fMRI scanning.[Results] The training group showed a significant improvement in motor performance. On the other hand, the control group also showed a slight improvement of performance. After the two-week training, activations of all areas observed on the initial fMRI showed a remarkable decrease, whereas no differences or slight increases were observed in the change of activation in the control group. In the cerebellar activation of the training group, the most prominent change was observed in the medial cerebellar area, and contralateral deep cerebellar nuclei were newly activated.[Conclusion] Our findings suggest that brain reorganization for sequential motor learning was induced by motor sequence acquisition, and that decreased cerebral and increased cerebellar activity during explicit learning might be related to familiarity with the task.

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Extensive training of elementary finger tapping movements changes the pattern of motor cortex excitability

Cited by 114 publications

References 78 publications

Unilateral practice of a ballistic movement causes bilateral increases in performance and corticospinal excitability

Unilateral practice of a ballistic movement causes bilateral increases in performance and corticospinal excitability

Handedness, Dexterity, and Motor Cortical Representations

Changes in Cerebral and Cerebellar Activation Patterns Induced by Short-term Sequence Learning of a Serial Reaction Time Task: an fMRI Study

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