Changes in the brain activation balance in motor-related areas after constraint-induced movement therapy; a longitudinal fMRI study

Every research study should use fMRI to prove their results actually affected changes in the brain. Then we could see whether changes occurred on the same side of the brain or moved to the opposite side.
http://www.naric.com/research/rehab/record.cfm?search=2&type=all&criteria=J62239&phrase=no&rec=116954
NARIC Accession Number: J62239. What's this?
ISSN: 0269-9052.
Author(s): Murayama, Takashi; Numata, Kenji; Kawakami, Takahiro; Tosaka, Tomonari; Oga, Masaru; Oka, Nobuo; Katano, Mihoko; Takasugi, Jun; Shimizu, Eiji.
Publication Year: 2011.
Number of Pages: 11.
Abstract: Study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the longitudinal changes in brain activation balance in motor-related areas after constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT). The subjects included 7 ischemic stroke patients with mild right hemiparesis and 8 normal subjects. Each normal control subject participated in a single fMRI session. The patients underwent fMRI and motor function tests both before and immediately after 2 weeks of CIMT and also after a 3-month follow-up. The motor function tests included the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) and a modified Wolf Motor Function Test (mWMFT). The motor function test scores improved immediately after CIMT; moreover, these scores were either maintained or improved even at the 3-month follow-up. In a comparison of the chronological data of the contralaterality index of the affected hand movement, the cerebellar activity changed significantly to ipsilateral activation immediately after CIMT and thereafter the cerebellar activity further changed to ipsilateral activation at the 3-month follow-up. A correlation was observed among the contralateral activation, FMA, and mWMFT scores in the primary sensorimotor area (SM1) and the ipsilateral activation and in the mWMFT scores in the cerebellum at the 3-month follow-up examinations. The participation of the contralateral SM1 and the ipsilateral cerebellum is thus considered to play an important role in the satisfactory recovery of the motor function after CIMT.
Descriptor Terms: BODY MOVEMENT, BRAIN, BRAIN INJURIES, HEMIPLEGIA, IMAGING, LONGITUDINAL STUDIES, PHYSICAL THERAPY, STROKE.