Functional connectivity and information flow in cerebral motor regions of healthy people following finger movement training

摘要

BACKGROUND:Neuro-rehabilitative training has been shown to promote motor function recovery in stroke patients,although the underlying mechanisms have not been fully clarified.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of finger movement training on functional connectivity and information flow direction in cerebral motor areas of healthy people using electroencephalogram (EEG).DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A self-controlled,observational study was performed at the College of Life Science and Bioengineering,Beijing University of Technology between December 2008 and April 2009.PARTICIPANTS:Nineteen healthy adults,who seldom played musical instruments or keyboards,were included in the present study.METHODS:Specific finger movement training was performed,and all subjects were asked to separately press keys with their left or right hand fingers,according to instructions.The task comprised five sessions of test-train-test-train-test.Thirty-six channel EEG signals were recorded in different test sessions prior to and after training.Data were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The number of effective performances,correct ratio,average response time,average movement time,correlation coefficient between pairs of EEG channels,and information flow direction in motor regions were analyzed and compared between different training sessions.RESULTS:Motor function of all subjects was significantly improved in the third test compared with the first test (P < 0.01).More than 80% of connections were strengthened in the motor-related areas following two training sessions,in particular the primary motor regions under the C4 electrode.Compared to the first test,a greater amount of information flowed from the Cz and Fcz electrodes (corresponding to supplementary motor area) to the C4 electrode in the third test.CONCLUSION:Finger task training increased motor ability in subjects by strengthening connections and changing information flow in the motor areas.These results provided a greater understanding of the mechanisms involved in motor rehabilitation.