Clinical characteristics and brain activation patterns of mirror movements in patients with corona radiata infarct.
OBJECTIVE
Mirror movements (MMs) are a phenomenon of involuntary movements that accompany physically intended movements of the opposite side of the body. In the current study, we investigated the clinical characteristics and cortical activation patterns of MMs in patients with corona radiata (CR) infarct, using functional MRI.


METHODS
We recruited 31 consecutive hemiparetic stroke patients with CR infarct. Functional MRI was performed to verify brain activation patterns during grasp-release movements of the affected hand, and MM of the unaffected hand was observed simultaneously.


RESULTS
The prevalence of MMs was 54.8% (17 out of 31 patients), and the intensity of MMs ranged from mild to moderate. The severity of MM in the unaffected hand is closely related to the poor motor function of the affected upper extremity and to activations of the unaffected motor cortex and both supplementary motor areas (SMAs) during the movement of the affected hand. In addition, the activations of unaffected motor cortex and both SMAs were closely related to poor motor function of the affected upper extremity.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that MMs, poor motor function, and the activations of ipsilateral motor cortex and both SMAs are closely interconnected in patients with CR infarct.
Lee
Mi Young
MY
Department of Physical Therapy, Daegu Haany University, South Korea.
Choi
Jin Ho
JH
Park
Rae Joon
RJ
Kwon
Yong Hyun
YH
Chang
Jong Sung
JS
Lee
Jun
J
Ahn
Sang Ho
SH
Jang
Sung Ho
SH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications
D010100:Oxygen