Yu Xiaojing, Zhang Shizheng, Liu Hai, Chen Yizhang
Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Medical College of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou City 310016, Zhejiang Province, China.
Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 Jan;24(1):45-50. doi: 10.1016/j.mri.2005.10.024. Epub 2005 Dec 20.
Functional reorganization of the human brain after an arm amputation has been documented in several investigations, but as far as we know, there has been no report on amputees with skilled foot movement ability. To further assess the power of functional reorganization of the brain after an amputation, we investigated two bilateral upper-extremities amputees who were professional sculptors and painters with their feet. Performance tests showed that they possessed high foot movement ability. Functional MRI data indicated that toe tapping of the amputees not only activated the classical foot primary motor cortex, but also activated the hand area. In the T1-weighted MRI, the central sulci of both amputees kept their characteristic shape. Our study suggests that there is a remarkable power of neural plasticity in the motor cortex, and the maturation of the cortex develops in response to daily practice. The possible mechanisms of the reorganization are tentatively discussed.
多项研究已记录了人类截肢后大脑的功能重组情况，但据我们所知，尚无关于具有熟练足部运动能力的截肢者的报告。为了进一步评估截肢后大脑功能重组的能力，我们调查了两名双侧上肢截肢者，他们是用脚进行专业雕刻和绘画的艺术家。性能测试表明他们具有很高的足部运动能力。功能磁共振成像数据显示，截肢者的脚趾轻敲不仅激活了经典的足部初级运动皮层，还激活了手部区域。在T1加权磁共振成像中，两名截肢者的中央沟都保持了其特征形状。我们的研究表明，运动皮层具有显著的神经可塑性，并且皮层的成熟是对日常练习的反应。本文还初步讨论了重组的可能机制。
