Research Center for Advanced Technologies, Tokyo Denki University, Muzai-Gakuendai, Inzai, Chiba 270-1382, Japan.
Neurosci Lett. 2012 May 10;516(1):39-44. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.03.049. Epub 2012 Mar 28.
Self-paced rhythmical lower limb movement is an important component of locomotive motion in humans. External stimuli are known to facilitate the generation of rhythmical motion. The importance of such self-paced and externally triggered movements is widely recognized, and these movements of the upper limbs have been studied in detail. However, the difference in neural mechanisms between the self-paced and externally triggered movements of the lower limbs is not clear even in healthy subjects. The present study investigated the neural regions involved in the lower limb movements by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The subjects were fixed face-up to an MRI bed and performed lower limb movements that mimicked walking under self-paced and externally triggered conditions. The results showed that the supplementary motor area, sensorimotor cortex and cerebellum were involved in both types of movement, but the basal ganglia and the thalamus were selectively recruited for the self-paced lower limb movement. These results are compatible with those of previous studies on the control of the lower limbs, and on upper limb movement under self-paced and externally triggered conditions.
自主节律性下肢运动是人类运动活动的重要组成部分。已知外部刺激有助于产生节律性运动。这种自主和外部触发运动的重要性已被广泛认识，并且已经对上肢的这些运动进行了详细研究。然而，即使在健康受试者中，自主和外部触发的下肢运动的神经机制也不清楚。本研究通过功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）研究了下肢运动所涉及的神经区域。受试者固定仰卧在 MRI 床上，并在自主和外部触发条件下进行模仿步行的下肢运动。结果表明，辅助运动区、感觉运动皮层和小脑均参与了这两种运动，但基底神经节和丘脑仅选择性地参与了自主的下肢运动。这些结果与先前对下肢控制以及自主和外部触发条件下的上肢运动的研究结果一致。
