An fMRI study of tool-use gestures: body part as object and pantomime.
A body part as object (BPO) gesture is one of the error patterns in apraxia. In the BPO gesture, people represent objects by their hands. To clarify the neuronal background of the BPO gesture, we compared the brain activation during the BPO gesture with that during ordinary pantomime in normal subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Both the BPO gesture and the pantomime induced activation in the left parietal areas (Brodmann's area (BA) 7, 40), irrespective of the hand used. These areas might be activated by a common process of tool-related gestures. The BPO gesture also activated the right supramarginal gyrus (BA 40). This activation might reflect the characteristic process of BPO, the correlation of hands with tools by their forms and movements.
Medical Vision Laboratory, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan. yuko.ohgami@aist.go.jp
Yuko
Y
Ohgami
Kayako
K
Matsuo
Nobuko
N
Uchida
Toshiharu
T
Nakai
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D005868:Gestures; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology
D010100:Oxygen