Authors: Steven McMillan Richard B Ivry Winston D Byblow
Publish Date: 2006/01/20
Volume: 172, Issue: 2, Pages: 230-245
Abstract
Fourteen neurologically healthy righthanded subjects performed a choicehand reaction time RT task which involved wrist flexion or extension of either the left or right hand to one of three fixed target locations corresponding to 45° flexion 20° flexion or 20° extension from the starting position In each trial a precue provided information regarding the forthcoming target location The hand was specified by the imperative signal Focal transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS was delivered over the hand motor area of either the right or left hemisphere at set times during the foreperiod and at random intervals during the RT interval defined by electromyography onset As expected an increase in corticomotor excitability was observed in the agonist of the responding hand over the RT interval When the cue appeared at a location that required flexion with either hand an increase in excitability was observed following stimulation over the hemisphere ipsilateral to the responding hand indicating activation of the homologous muscle However when the cue appeared at a location at which the response would require flexion with one hand and extension with the other the modulation of excitability was also based on the direction of the response This directionspecific effect was only observed for TMS delivered to the left hemisphere during the lefthand movement and suggested goalbased preparation in the left hemisphere independent of whether the actual movement is made with the right or left hand These results indicate that both the homologousmuscle and the directionalspecific constraints affect the corticomotor excitability of the nonresponding handWe would like to thank Colin MacKinnon and Romeo Chua for comments they provided on an earlier draft We would also like to thank Melanie Fleming and Richard Carson for assistance with data analysis and Shane Warbrooke for his technical assistance during data collection
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