title: Bimanual coordination: neuromagnetic and behavioral data.
abstract: It has been suggested that bimanual coordination is associated with stronger activation of the left motor cortex in right-handers. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether left motor cortex dominance constitutes a fundamental feature of bimanual coordination. We investigated neuromagnetic responses while subjects performed a bimanual tapping task using a 122-channel whole-head neuromagnetometer. Three neuromagnetic sources localized in the primary sensorimotor cortex of each hemisphere were found. Sources represent neuromagnetic correlates of the motor command and of somatosensory feedback. Since we found no differences of amplitudes or latencies of corresponding sources of both hemispheres, our data suggest that dominance of the left motor cortex is not a fundamental characteristic for bimanual coordination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany. bettina.pollok@uni-deusseldorf.de
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pollok
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Gisa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aschersleben
authors.forename: Alfons
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schnitzler
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Prinz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004585:Electrooculography; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology