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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 19, 2008, 28(12):3227-3233; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4076-07.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Callosal Contributions to Simultaneous Bimanual Finger Movements

Laura Bonzano,^1,2 Andrea Tacchino,³ Luca Roccatagliata,^1,2 Giovanni Abbruzzese,¹ Giovanni Luigi Mancardi,^1,2 and Marco Bove³

¹Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology, and Genetics, ²Magnetic Resonance Research Centre on Nervous System Diseases, and ³Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Marco Bove, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, Viale Benedetto XV 3, 16132 Genoa, Italy. Email: marco.bove{at}unige.it

Corpus callosum (CC) is involved in the performance of bimanual motor tasks. We asked whether its functional role could be investigated by combining a motor behavioral study on bimanual movements in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with a quantitative magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis of CC, which is shown to be damaged in this disease. MS patients and normal subjects were asked to perform sequences of bimanual finger opposition movements at different metronome rates; then we explored the structural integrity of CC by means of DTI. Significant differences in motor performance, mainly referred to timing accuracy, were observed between MS patients and control subjects. Bimanual motor coordination was impaired in MS patients as shown by the larger values of the interhand interval observed at all the tested metronome rates with respect to controls. Furthermore, DTI revealed a significant reduction of fractional anisotropy (FA), indicative of microstructural tissue damage, in the CC of MS patients. By correlating the mean FA values with the different motor behavior parameters, we found that the degree of damage in the anterior callosal portions mainly influences the bimanual coordination and, in particular, the movement phase preceding the finger touch. Finally, the described approach, which correlates quantitative measures of tissue damage obtained by advanced magnetic resonance imaging tools with appropriate behavioral measurements, may help the exploration of different aspects of motor performance impairment attributable to the disease.

Key words: corpus callosum; finger opposition movement; bimanual coordination; MRI; diffusion tensor; multiple sclerosis

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Received Sept. 6, 2007; revised Feb. 6, 2008; accepted Feb. 7, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Marco Bove, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, Viale Benedetto XV 3, 16132 Genoa, Italy. Email: marco.bove{at}unige.it

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

Corpus Callosum and Bimanual Coordination in Multiple Sclerosis

Brett W. Fling, Jessica A. Bernard, Jin Bo, and Jeanne Langan
J. Neurosci. 2008 28: 7248-7249. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. W. Fling, J. A. Bernard, J. Bo, and J. Langan Corpus Callosum and Bimanual Coordination in Multiple Sclerosis J. Neurosci., July 16, 2008; 28(29): 7248 - 7249. [Full Text] [PDF]

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