title: The Effect of Lesion Size on the Organization of the Ipsilesional and Contralesional Motor Cortex.
abstract: Recovery of hand function following lesions in the primary motor cortex (M1) is associated with a reorganization of premotor areas in the ipsilesional hemisphere, and this reorganization depends on the size of the lesion. It is not clear how lesion size affects motor representations in the contralesional hemisphere and how the effects in the 2 hemispheres compare. Our goal was to study how lesion size affects motor representations in the ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres. In rats, we induced lesions of different sizes in the caudal forelimb area (CFA), the equivalent of M1. The effective lesion volume in each animal was quantified histologically. Behavioral recovery was evaluated with the Montoya Staircase task for 28 days after the lesion. Then, the organization of the CFA and the rostral forelimb area (RFA)--the putative premotor area in rats--in the 2 cerebral hemispheres was studied with intracortical microstimulation mapping techniques. The distal forelimb representation in the RFA of both the ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres was positively correlated with the size of the lesion. In contrast, lesion size had no effect on the contralesional CFA, and there was no relationship between movement representations in the 2 hemispheres. Finally, only the contralesional RFA was negatively correlated with chronic motor deficits of the paretic forelimb. Our data show that lesion size has comparable effects on motor representations in premotor areas of both hemispheres and suggest that the contralesional premotor cortex may play a greater role in the recovery of the paretic forelimb following large lesions.
authors.affiliation: Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Touvykine
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie moléculaire, Biochimie médicale et pathologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Babak K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Mansoori
authors.affiliation: Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Loyda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jean-Charles
authors.affiliation: Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deffeyes
authors.affiliation: Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quessy
authors.affiliation: Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada Groupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central (GRSNC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada numa.dancause@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Numa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dancause
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019332:Endothelin-1; D005552:Forelimb / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1
keywords: contralesional; cortex; hand; intact hemisphere; ipsilesional; lesion size; motor representations; plasticity; recovery; stroke