Specific activation of brain cortical areas in response to stimulation of the support receptors in healthy subjects and patients with focal lesions of the CNS

Author： Kremneva E. Saenko I. Chernikova L. Chervyakov A. Konovalov R. Kozlovskaya I.

Publisher： MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica

ISSN： 0362-1197

Source： Human Physiology, Vol.39, Iss.5, 2013-09, pp. : 524-529

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Abstract

The space medicine data on the nature of motor disorders suggest an important role of the support inputs in the control of mammalian tonic and postural systems. Progress in functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRT) makes it possible to perform in vivo analysis of various brain areas during stimulation of the support afferentation. Under these conditions, specific activation of the brain cortical areas was studied in 19 healthy subjects (with the mean age of 38 ± 15.13 years) and 23 patients (with the mean age of 53 ± 9.07 years) with focal CNS lesions (cortical-subcortical ischemic stroke). During scanning of subjects, the support areas of the soles of the feet were stimulated using a block design to simulate slow walking. In healthy subjects, significant activation was recorded (p < 0.05 at the cluster level) in the primary somatosensory cortex, premotor and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and insular lobe. In patients that had had a stroke, activation of the locomotion-controlling supraspinal systems clearly depended on the stage of the disease. In patients with a cortical-subcortical stroke, the pattern of contralateral activation of the sensorimotor locomotion predominated during motility rehabilitation.