title: Functional Plasticity in the Absence of Structural Change.
abstract: This work presents a case of a young woman with apraxia and a severe body scheme disorder, 10 years after a childhood frontal and occipitoparietal brain injury. Despite specific limitations, she is independent in performing all activities of daily living. A battery of tests was administered to evaluate praxis and body representations. Specifically, the Hand Laterality Test was used to compare RS's dynamic body representation to that of healthy controls (N = 14). Results demonstrated RS's severe praxis impairment, and the Hand Laterality Test revealed deficits in accuracy and latency of motor imagery, suggesting a significant impairment in dynamic body representation. However, semantic and structural body representations were intact. These results, coupled with frequent use of verbalizations as a strategy, suggest a possible ventral compensatory mechanism (top-down processing) for dorsal stream deficits, which may explain RS's remarkable recovery of activities of daily living. The link between praxis and dynamic body representation is discussed.
authors.affiliation: 1 Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.|2 Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krasovsky
authors.affiliation: 1 Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.|3 Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Landa
authors.affiliation: 1 Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Orly
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bar
authors.affiliation: 1 Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.|4 School of Behavioral Sciences, Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Ahonniska-Assa
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Jaana
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.|6 J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Livny
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Galia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsarfaty
authors.affiliation: 1 Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel.|7 Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Silberg
mesh_terms: D001072:Apraxias / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001828:Body Image; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hand Laterality Test; TBI; motor imagery; parietal cortex; rehabilitation