An fMRI pilot study evaluating brain activation during different finger training exercises

The recovery of motor function after stroke is widely considered to result from brain plasticity. However, what kind of training exercise can better provoke brain plastic processes is still unclear. Studying regional brain activation during a specific training exercise may provide value information that can help design more effective therapeutic approaches. In this paper, we monitored brain activation when subjects performed four different finger training exercises: left middle finger passive movement (LMFP), left middle finger active movement (LMFA), middle finger self-motion control movement (MF), and both middle fingers active movement (BMFA). Eight healthy volunteers were involved in this study. The results indicated that the LFMA results in stronger brain activation than the LMFP in the left insular, left inferior frontal cortex, right middle cingulate cortex, left S1, bilateral cerebellum, SMA, and right inferior frontal areas. However, we did not find a significant difference when comparing the the MF and the BMFA conditions.