title: Cortical reorganization after hand immobilization: the beta qEEG spectral coherence evidences.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that hand immobilization is associated with various changes in the brain. Indeed, beta band coherence is strongly related to motor act and sensitive stimuli. In this study we investigate the electrophysiological and cortical changes that occur when subjects are submitted to hand immobilization. We hypothesized that beta coherence oscillations act as a mechanism underlying inter- and intra-hemispheric changes. As a methodology for our study fifteen healthy individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 years were subjected to a right index finger task before and after hand immobilization while their brain activity pattern was recorded using quantitative electroencephalography. This analysis revealed that hand immobilization caused changes in frontal, central and parietal areas of the brain. The main findings showed a lower beta-2 band in frontal regions and greater cortical activity in central and parietal areas. In summary, the coherence increased in the frontal, central and parietal cortex, due to hand immobilization and it adjusted the brains functioning, which had been disrupted by the procedure. Moreover, the brain adaptation upon hand immobilization of the subjects involved inter- and intra-hemispheric changes.
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping and Sensory Motor Integration, Institute of Psychiatry of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fortuna
authors.forename: Silmar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Sérgio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Velasques
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bittencourt
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peressutti
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budde
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cagy
authors.forename: Antonio E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piedade
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arias-Carrión
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007103:Immobilization; D008297:Male; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult