Neuroplastic and motor behavioral changes after intermanual transfer training of non-dominant hand: A prospective fMRI study

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Jung, Dohee^a | Park, Ji-Won^b | Kim, Yun-Hee^{c; *} | You, Joshua (Sung) Hyun^{a; **}

Affiliations: [a] Sports Movement Institute & Technology (SMIT) Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea | [b] Department of Physical Therapy, College of Bio and Medical Sciences, Catholic University of Daegu, Republic of Korea | [c] Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Heart Vascular Stroke Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence: [*] Addresses for correspondence: Yun-Hee Kim, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82-2-3410-2824; Fax: +82-2+3410+0052; E-mail: yunkim@skku.edu.

Correspondence: [**] Sung (Joshua) Hyun You, PT, PhD, Sports Movement Institute & Technology (SMIT) Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, Yonsei University, 1 Yonseidae-gil, Wonju City, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea 26493. Tel: +82-33-760-2476; Fax: +82-33-760-2496; E-mail: neurorehab@yonsei.ac.kr.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Intermanual transfer of learning is an important movement basis for a keyboard and instrument playing movement. However, the issue of where neural plastic mechanism occurs in the brain after intermanual transfer training remains both controversial and unresolved. OBJECTIVE:The aim of present study is to investigate the neuroplastic mechanism associated with the interlimb transfer learning from non-dominant hand to dominant hand. METHODS:Twenty healthy right-handed adults were classified into either the control group (no-training) or the experimental group (training serial button-press motor task, SPMT), 5 days a week for two consecutive weeks. SPMT involved pressing the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in a random sequence, which was presented in the monitor screen. Outcome measures included movement accuracy (MA), movement time (MT), and the fMRI data using a 3T MRI scanner. Repeated measures of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and non-parametric tests were used at p <0.05. RESULTS:Motor performances in the MA and MT were significantly more improved in the experimental group than in the control group (p <0.05). Neuroimaging data revealed a distributed subcortical and cortical motor network including the SMA–thalamus (VL/VL)–basal ganglia–cerebellum loop, suggesting a differential and time-dependent neural network utilized during intermanual transfer learning. CONCLUSION:Pre-training intermanual transfer learning involved a form of declarative (or explicit) motor learning, which was primarily mediated by the cortical motor network, whereas post-training involved a form of procedural knowledge, which activated subcortical and cortical motor network regions, including the SMA–thalamus (VL/VL)–basal ganglia–cerebellum loop.

Keywords: Intermanual transfer, non-dominant hand, brain, fMRI

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-182550

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 25-35, 2019