Combination of TMS and fMRI reveals a specific pattern of reorganization in M1 in patients after complete spinal cord injury.

PURPOSE

After a spinal cord injury (SCI), which was complete, deafferentation of the body representation caudal to the lesion height results in drastic changes in the cortical representation. The underlaying processes are poorly understood.

METHODS

We investigated cortical representation sites of upper limb muscles using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in five patients suffering from thoracic complete SCI and one with an incomplete SCI in the height of L1.

RESULTS

In comparison to healthy controls fMRI demonstrated a displacement of elbow movement representations in the precentral gyrus in patients with complete SCI into the direction of the deafferented cortical thoracic representation. Changes increased with time after the incidence of SCI. TMS revealed reduced excitability and prolonged silent periods for muscles more distant to the deafferented area.

CONCLUSIONS

Whereas fMRI demonstrated changes in representation sites adjacent to the deafferented area, TMS excitability changes were also observed more distant to the deafferented area and silent periods were prolonged in comparison to healthy controls. TMS changes might depend on both: the distance to the deafferented area and the time of persistence of deafferentation.