Background and purpose: Both structural atrophy and functional reorganization of the primary motor cortex (M1) have been reported in patients with subcortical infarctions affecting the motor pathway. However, the relationship between structural impairment and functional reorganization in M1 remains unclear.
Methods: Twenty-six patients exhibiting significant recovery after subcortical infarctions were investigated using multimodal MRI techniques. Structural impairment was assessed via cortical thickness, and functional reorganization was analyzed using task-evoked activation, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, and resting-state functional connectivity.
Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with stroke exhibited reduced cortical thickness in the ipsilesional M1; however, this region exhibited increased task-evoked activation, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, and resting-state functional connectivity in these patients. Patients with stroke demonstrated increased task-evoked activation in another ipsilesional M1 region, in which increased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and resting-state functional connectivity were observed. The structural and functional changes in M1 were located selectively in the ipsilesional hemisphere.
Conclusions: We provide convincing evidence that indicates extensive functional reorganization in the ipsilesional M1 of patients with chronic subcortical infarctions, including the structurally impaired M1 region.
Keywords: cerebral infarction; functional neuroimaging; magnetic resonance imaging; motor cortex; neuronal plasticity.