Derosiere, Gerard and Alexandre, F. and Bourdillon, N. and Mandrick, K. and Ward, Tomas E. and Perrey, S.
(2014)
Similar scaling of contralateral and ipsilateral cortical responses during graded
unimanual force generation.
NeuroImage, 85 (1).
pp. 471-477.
ISSN 1053-8119
Abstract
Hemibody movements are strongly considered as being under the control of the contralateral hemisphere of
the cerebral cortex. However, some neuroimaging studies have found a bilateral activation of either the pri-
mary sensori-motor (SM1) areas or the rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC), during unimanual tasks. More than
just bilateral, the activation of these areas was found to be symmetrical in some studies. However, the sym-
metrical response remains strongly controversial notably for handgrip force generations. We therefore aimed
to examine the bilateral SM1 and rostral PFC area activations in response to graded submaximal force gener-
ation during a unilateral handgrip task. Fifteen healthy subjects performed 6 levels of force (ranging from 5 to
50% of MVC) during a handgrip task. We concomitantly measured the activation of bilateral SM1 and rostral
PFC areas through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the bilat-
eral
fl
exor digitorum super
fi
cialis (FDS) muscles. Symmetrical activation was found over the SM1 areas for all
the investigated levels of force. At the highest level of force (i.e., 50% of MVC), the EMG of the passive FDS
increased signi
fi
cantly and the ipsilateral rostral PFC activation was found more intense than the correspond-
ing contralateral rostral PFC activation. We suggest that the visuo-guided control of force levels during a
handgrip task requires the cross-talk from ipsi- to contralateral SM1 to cope for the relative complexity of
the task, similar to that which occurs during complex sequential
fi
nger movement. We also propose alterna-
tive explanations for the observed symmetrical SM1 activation including (i) the ipsilateral corticospinal tract
and (ii) interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) mechanism. The increase in EMG activity over the passive FDS
could be associated with a release of IHI at 50% of MVC. Finally, our results suggest that the greater ipsilateral
(right) rostral PFC activation may re
fl
ect the greater demand of attention required to control the motor out-
put at high levels of force
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
NIRS;
Cortical activation;
Muscle force;
Ipsilateral;
Handgrip;
Unimanual task; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Electronic Engineering |
| Item ID: |
9268 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.006 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr Tomas Ward
|
| Date Deposited: |
20 Feb 2018 17:27 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
NeuroImage |
| Publisher: |
Elsevier |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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