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- Johansson, Roland, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
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How a lateralized brain supports symmetrical bimanual tasks
- 2006
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Ingår i: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 4:6, s. e158-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A large repertoire of natural object manipulation tasks require precisely coupled symmetrical opposing forces by both hands on a single object. We asked how the lateralized brain handles this basic problem of spatial and temporal coordination. We show that the brain consistently appoints one of the hands as prime actor while the other assists, but the choice of acting hand is flexible. When study participants control a cursor by manipulating a tool held freely between the hands, the left hand becomes prime actor if the cursor moves directionally with the left-hand forces, whereas the right hand primarily acts if it moves with the opposing right-hand forces. In neurophysiological (electromyography, transcranial magnetic brain stimulation) and functional magnetic resonance brain imaging experiments we demonstrate that changes in hand assignment parallels a midline shift of lateralized activity in distal hand muscles, corticospinal pathways, and primary sensorimotor and cerebellar cortical areas. We conclude that the two hands can readily exchange roles as dominant actor in bimanual tasks. Spatial relationships between hand forces and goal motions determine hand assignments rather than habitual handedness. Finally, flexible role assignment of the hands is manifest at multiple levels of the motor system, from cortical regions all the way down to particular muscles.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Lenfeldt, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus : increased supplementary motor activity accounts for improvement after CSF drainage.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Brain. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 131:Pt 11, s. 2904-2912
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH), the changes in brain function that take place in conjunction with improved behavioural performance after CSF drainage is still unknown. In this study, we use functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate the changes in cortical activity that accompany improved motor and cognitive performance after long-term external lumbar drainage (ELD) of CSF in patients with INPH. Eighteen INPH patients were initially included together with age- and sex-matched controls. Data from 11 INPH patients were analysed both before and after ELD. The average drain volume for these 11 patients was 400 ml/3 days. Brain activation was investigated by fMRI before and after the procedure on a 1.5T Philips scanner using protocols taxing motor performance (finger tapping and reaction time) and cognitive functioning (memory and attention). Behavioural data were compared using non-parametric tests at a significance level of 0.05, whereas fMRI data were analysed by statistical parametric mapping including conjunction analysis of areas with enhanced activity after drainage in patients and areas activated in controls (P < 0.005, uncorrected). Improved regions were defined as areas in the INPH brain that increased in activity after ELD with the requirement that the same areas were activated in control subjects. Following ELD, right-hand finger tapping improved from 104 +/- 38 to 117 +/- 25 (mean +/- SD) (P = 0.02). Left-hand finger tapping showed a tendency to improve, the number of keystrokes increasing from 91 +/- 40 to 105 +/- 20 (P = 0.12). Right-hand reaction time improved from 1630 +/- 566 ms to 1409 +/- 442 ms, whereas left-hand reaction time improved from 1760 +/- 600 ms to 1467 +/- 420 ms (both P-values = 0.01). Significant improvements in motor performance were accompanied by bilateral increased activation in the supplementary motor area. No improvement was found in cognitive functioning. The results suggest that motor function recovery in INPH patients after CSF removal is related to enhanced activity in medial parts of frontal motor areas considered crucial for motor planning; a finding consistent with INPH being a syndrome related to a reversible suppression of frontal periventricular cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical pathways.
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| 4. |
- Nyberg, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Striatal dopamine D2 binding is related to frontal BOLD response during updating of long-term memory representations
- 2009
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 46:4, s. 1194-1199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multi-modal brain imaging was used to examine the relation between individual differences in resting-state striatal dopamine D2 binding and the magnitude of prefrontal BOLD activation during updating of long-term memory (LTM) representations. Increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex was observed when LTM updating was required, and there was a positive correlation between striatal D2 activity and the magnitude of left prefrontal activity during updating. These findings support predictions from neurocomputational models of a relation of dopaminergic neurotransmission to transient cognitive operations and related brain activity.
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