To elucidate the nature of ipsilateral brain activity during hand movements.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
Synonym
Health condition
(Niet van toepassing)
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
The primary research variables are:
(1) Differences in the classification accuracy per lamina of the cortex between
ipsilateral and contralateral hand movements based on brain activity as
measured by fMRI.
(2) The similarity of neuronal activity patterns in gestures and finger
movements for the ipsilateral and contralateral hand.
Secondary outcome
Distinguishability of neuronal activity patterns of twenty different gestures
to select a subset of gestures for the main study.
Background summary
In recent decades, the role of the contralateral hemisphere in making limb
movements has well been established. However, recently it has been demonstrated
that the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex also shows activity during unilateral
limb movements. For example, studies have shown that various hand gestures can
be decoded solely based on activity in the ipsilateral motor cortex and that
ipsilateral motor representations contain details up to at least the level of
individual finger representations. This is rather surprising, as the number of
white matter fibers in the brainstem that do not cross over to the side of the
body is small. The nature of the ipsilateral activity is thus still unclear. We
aim to better understand the function of ipsilateral activity by examining
ipsilateral and contralateral activity patterns in detail. This allows us to
distinguish between the ipsilateral activities arising from cortico-cortical or
cortico-spinal projections by looking at activity in the different lamina of
the cortex. In addition, we can establish if parallel motor programs play a
possible role, by examining differences and similarities in the activity
patterns for ipsi and contralateral gestures and finger movements.
Study objective
To elucidate the nature of ipsilateral brain activity during hand movements.
Study design
This is an observational study using 7-Tesla fMRI to look neural activity
patterns for ipsilateral and contralateral hand movements in healthy volunteers
at a very high spatial resolution. This involves looking at the different
lamina of the cortex, and at the topography of brain activity. We do these
measurements with a surface-receiver-coil. This coil is not CE certified but
has been investigated for safety (IMDD has been added to the METC protocol)
Study burden and risks
There are no known risks associated with fMRI acquisition. The technique does
not use contrast agents or ionizing radiation. The Utrecht research group has
extensive experience with fMRI scans (about 400 scans per year on the 7 Tesla
MRI scanner). The fMRI procedure is painless, but some discomfort may occur due
to stimulation of the peripheral nerves during scanning and by the requirement
to lie still for long periods of time with part of the body and head in a
tunnel-like device.
Heidelberglaan 100
Utrecht 3584CX
NL
Heidelberglaan 100
Utrecht 3584CX
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
- Age 18 - 55 years
- Blank neurological history
- Right handedness
- Oral consent for the willingness to practice fMRI tasks at home
Exclusion criteria
- Noncompliance with MRI safety check list
- Claustrophobia
- Pregnancy
- Inability to hear the instructions presented orally in the scanner without a
hearing aid
Design
Recruitment
Medical products/devices used
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
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Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
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In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL79402.041.23 |