Resting-state functional connectivity changes during intermanual transfer of tool-use learning
Poster No:
860
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Sayori Takeda1, Kouji Takano1, Tomoaki Komatsu1, Kimihiro Nakamura1
Institutions:
1Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Saitama
First Author:
Sayori Takeda
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Co-Author(s):
Kouji Takano
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Tomoaki Komatsu
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Kimihiro Nakamura
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Tokorozawa, Saitama
Introduction:
Intermanual transfer (IT) is a neurophysiological phenomenon in which motor skills trained in one hand generalize to the contralateral side via plastic changes in shared motor neural systems responsible for controlling both hands (Ossmy et al., 2016). Motor learning via IT may thus provide a promising strategy for neurocognitive rehabilitation, but little is known about the neural basis of IT in human tool-use. We addressed the question by measuring resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in novel tool-use learning.
Methods:
Twenty-eight right-handed participants volunteered for the study. During a 16-minute practice, half of them used their left hand to manipulate a special pair of pliers designed to open when gripped, contrary to the usual direction of operation (training group), whereas the other half only held the pliers with their left hand (control group). For each participant, tool-use skills for left and right hands were assessed by measuring the time required to move 20 small balls with the pliers (movement-time). Tool-use skills and resting-state fMRI were measured before and after motor learning. RSFC with the right and left primary motor cortex (M1) as seed regions was calculated with respect to five regions of interest, i.e., contralateral M1, the right and left frontal pole (FP) and supramarginal gyrus (SMG).
Results:
Movement-time and RSFC data were each submitted to a 2 x 2 analysis of variance with learning (before vs. after) and group (training vs. control) as effects of interest. For both hands, we found significant learning x group interaction, with the training group being faster in movement-time than the control group (p < 0.05, Figure 1). In the training group, the magnitude of reduction in movement-time was correlated between the left and right hands (p < 0.05). In RSFC analyses (Figure 2), significant interaction for the right M1 seed was found in the right FP and SMG, with functional connectivity being greater for the training group (FDR-corrected p < 0.05). In the training group, this increase in the RSFC correlated with the magnitude of reduction in movement-time for the left hand (p < 0.05). Significant interaction for the left M1 seed was also found in the right FP, again with functional connectivity being greater for the training group (p < 0.05), which correlated with movement-time reduction for the right hand (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the magnitude of RSFC increase in the inter-hemispheric connection between the left M1 and right FP was positively correlated with those in the M1-FP and M1-SMG connections in the right hemisphere (p < 0.05 for both).
·Behavioral effects of tool-use learning for each hand.
·Resting-state functional connectivity with the left and right M1 seeds.
Conclusions:
At the behavioral level, we found that brief motor training improved tool-use performance not only in the trained left hand but also in the untrained right hand, showing the intermanual transfer of complex motor memory for novel tool-use. As for the trained left hand, this behavioral effect of learning was associated with increased RSFC from the right M1 seed to the right FP and SMG. This finding is consistent with the neuroimaging data showing that FP and SMG are each involved in tool use and motor learning (Ishikuro et al., 2014; Grazes and Decety., 2001). In contrast, the behavioral effect for the untrained right hand was associated with increased RSFC from the left M1 to the right FP, which exhibited inter-network correlations with the right M1-FP and right M1-SMG connections. This finding fits well with the notion that FP plays a role in adapting previously learned and stored strategies to new external situations when constructing human behavioral strategies (Mansouri et al., 2017). Collectively, these results suggest that the frontal pole play a guiding role in the retrieval and inter-hemispheric transfer of complex motor memory stored in the ipsilateral frontoparietal network during novel tool-use learning.
Learning and Memory:
Skill Learning 1
Motor Behavior:
Motor Planning and Execution 2
Motor Behavior Other
Keywords:
ADULTS
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Learning
Motor
Plasticity
Other - "Resting-state functional connectivity"
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Abstract Information
By submitting your proposal, you grant permission for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) to distribute your work in any format, including video, audio print and electronic text through OHBM OnDemand, social media channels, the OHBM website, or other electronic publications and media.
The Open Science Special Interest Group (OSSIG) is introducing a reproducibility challenge for OHBM 2025. This new initiative aims to enhance the reproducibility of scientific results and foster collaborations between labs. Teams will consist of a “source” party and a “reproducing” party, and will be evaluated on the success of their replication, the openness of the source work, and additional deliverables. Click here for more information. Propose your OHBM abstract(s) as source work for future OHBM meetings by selecting one of the following options:
Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel? NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
Which processing packages did you use for your study?
Provide references using APA citation style.
2. Ishikuro, K., et al. (2023). Neural mechanisms of neuro-rehabilitation using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the front-polar area. Brain sciences, 13, 1604.
3. Mansouri, F. A., et al. (2017). Managing competing goals — a key role for the frontopolar cortex. Nature reviews neuroscience, 18(11), 645-657.
4. Ossmy, O., Mukamel, R. (2016). Neural network underlying intermanual skill transfer in humans. Cell Reports, 17(11), 2891-2900.