Watching Your Foot MoveAn fMRI Study of Visuomotor Interactions during Foot Movement

Author： Christensen Mark Schram Lundbye-Jensen Jesper Petersen Nicolas Geertsen Svend Sparre Paulson Olaf B. Nielsen Jens Bo

Publisher： Oxford University Press

ISSN： 1460-2199

Source： Cerebral Cortex, Vol.17, Iss.8, 2007-08, pp. : 1906-1917

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate brain areas involved in distinguishing sensory events caused by self-generated movements from similar sensory events caused by externally generated movements using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects performed 4 types of movements: 1) self-generated voluntary movement with visual feedback, 2) externally generated movement with visual feedback, 3) self-generated voluntary movement without visual feedback, and 4) externally generated movement without visual feedback, this design. This factorial design makes it possible to study which brain areas are activated during self-generated ankle movements guided by visual feedback as compared with externally generated movements under similar visual and proprioceptive conditions. We found a distinct network, comprising the posterior parietal cortex and lateral cerebellar hemispheres, which showed increased activation during visually guided self-generated ankle movements. Furthermore, we found differential activation in the cerebellum depending on the different main effects, that is, whether movements were self- or externally generated regardless of visual feedback, presence or absence of visual feedback, and activation related to proprioceptive input.