J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2001 Nov;40(6):1247-1250.

Neural Substrates of Motor Imagery: Event-related Functional MRI Study

• Yoo SS
• Choi BG
• Chung KI
• Lee CU

Abstract

ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES
We report event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) methodology to investigate human brain activity during motor imagery.
METHODS
A 1.5 Tesla clinical MR scanner was used in the acquisition of a series of T2* weighted MR images covering the whole brain. Blood oxygenation level-dependent(BOLD) signal changes associated with the imagery event were subsequently detected while healthy right-handed subjects imagined clenching of a right hand cued by auditory stimulus.
RESULTS
Group analysis across nine right-handed subjects revealed activations in the medial and superior frontal gyri, cuneus, insula, middle/superior temporal gyri, and anterior cingulate gyri. Bilateral primary motor, premotor and supplementary motor areas exhibited event-related MR signal changes. Although unilateral hand clenching was imagined, bilateral activation of eloquent motor areas was observed. The proposed method also allowed for the visualization of subcortical areas, such as putamen, globus pallidus and thalamus, responsive to the event of motor imagery.
CONCLUSION
The major cortical and subcortical areas in the motor pathways were identified and visualized during motor imagery event. Our results suggest that motor imagery and actual movement share common neural substrates.

Keyword

Motor imagery; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Brain mapping; Ideation; BOLD; Event-related design

MeSH Terms

Brain
Brain Mapping
Efferent Pathways
Globus Pallidus
Hand
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Oxygen
Putamen
Thalamus
Oxygen