title: Brain activation associated with practiced left hand mirror writing.
abstract: Mirror writing occurs in healthy children, in various pathologies and occasionally in healthy adults. There are only scant experimental data on the underlying brain processes. Eight, right-handed, healthy young adults were scanned (BOLD-fMRI) before and after practicing left-hand mirror-writing (lh-MW) over seven sessions. They wrote dictated words, using either the right hand with regularly oriented writing or lh-MW. An MRI compatible stylus-point recording system was used and online visual feedback was provided. Practice resulted in increased speed and readability of lh-MW but the number of movement segments was unchanged. Post-training signal increases occurred in visual, right lateral and medial premotor areas, and in right anterior and posterior peri-sylvian areas corresponding to language areas. These results suggest that lh-MW may constitute a latent ability that can be reinstated by a relatively brief practice experience. Concurrently, right hemisphere language processing areas may emerge, reflecting perhaps a reduction in trans-hemispheric suppression.
authors: Dept. of Diagnostic Imaging, MRI Unit, The Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel. kushnirt@post.tau.ac.il
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Kushnir
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Arzouan
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Karni
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Manor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult