Rewiring the Brain: Potential Role of the Premotor Cortex in Motor Control, Learning, and Recovery of Function Following Brain Injury

Overview

Journal Neurorehabil Neural Repair

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialties Neurology
Rehabilitation Medicine

Date 2011 Sep 20

PMID 21926382

Citations 99

Authors

Shailesh S Kantak

James W Stinear

Ethan R Buch

Leonardo G Cohen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The brain is a plastic organ with a capability to reorganize in response to behavior and/or injury. Following injury to the motor cortex or emergent corticospinal pathways, recovery of function depends on the capacity of surviving anatomical resources to recover and repair in response to task-specific training. One such area implicated in poststroke reorganization to promote recovery of upper extremity recovery is the premotor cortex (PMC). This study reviews the role of distinct subdivisions of PMC: dorsal (PMd) and ventral (PMv) premotor cortices as critical anatomical and physiological nodes within the neural networks for the control and learning of goal-oriented reach and grasp actions in healthy individuals and individuals with stroke. Based on evidence emerging from studies of intrinsic and extrinsic connectivity, transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional neuroimaging, and experimental studies in animals and humans, the authors propose 2 distinct patterns of reorganization that differentially engage ipsilesional and contralesional PMC. Research directions that may offer further insights into the role of PMC in motor control, learning, and poststroke recovery are also proposed. This research may facilitate neuroplasticity for maximal recovery of function following brain injury.

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