Cortical reorganization after brain damage: the oculomotor model.
Recovery from eye movement deficits after cortical lesions is amazingly rapid and almost complete, which is in sharp contrast to most other neurological deficits of cerebral lesions. The underlying mechanisms of this successful recovery remain uncertain. We had the rare opportunity to examine two patients with recovery from saccade deficits after a lesion restricted to the frontal eye field (FEF) by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The results provide direct evidence that recovery depended on the integrity of the oculomotor regions of the nonlesioned contralesional hemisphere, and that the compensatory network is task-specific.
Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University Hospital, University of Berne, Switzerland.
Thomas
T
Nyffeler
René
R
Müri
Tobias
T
Pflugshaupt
Roman
R
Wartburg
Christian W
CW
Hess
D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation