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. 2012 Jan;22(1):51-9.
doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhr062. Epub 2011 May 25.

Motor "dexterity"?: Evidence that left hemisphere lateralization of motor circuit connectivity is associated with better motor performance in children

Anita D Barber  1 , Priti Srinivasan, Suresh E Joel, Brian S Caffo, James J Pekar, Stewart H Mostofsky
Affiliations

Motor "dexterity"?: Evidence that left hemisphere lateralization of motor circuit connectivity is associated with better motor performance in children

Anita D Barber et al. Cereb Cortex. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

Motor control relies on well-established motor circuits, which are critical for typical child development. Although many imaging studies have examined task activation during motor performance, none have examined the relationship between functional intrinsic connectivity and motor ability. The current study investigated the relationship between resting state functional connectivity within the motor network and motor performance assessment outside of the scanner in 40 typically developing right-handed children. Better motor performance correlated with greater left-lateralized (mean left hemisphere-mean right hemisphere) motor circuit connectivity. Speed, rhythmicity, and control of movements were associated with connectivity within different individual region pairs: faster speed was associated with more left-lateralized putamen-thalamus connectivity, less overflow with more left-lateralized supplementary motor-primary motor connectivity, and less dysrhythmia with more left-lateralized supplementary motor-anterior cerebellar connectivity. These findings suggest that for right-handed children, superior motor development depends on the establishment of left-hemisphere dominance in intrinsic motor network connectivity.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Motor circuit seed regions. (a) LH seed regions in red and RH seed regions in blue, bilateral SMC seeds are shown in pink. (b) Graph theoretic depiction of the motor circuit. LH connections are displayed in red and RH connections are displayed in blue. The pink edge between dorsal and rostral SMC is common to both hemispheres. Line widths correspond to connection strength. Solid lines represent significant connections after multiple comparisons corrections (for 29 connection pairs). Dashed lines represent subthreshold connections.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Relationship between total PANESS and mean hemispheric connectivity. (a) LH and RH connectivity. (b) Difference LH–RH connectivity and mean connectivity.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Relationship between lateralized (LH–RH) motor connectivity and Total PANESS scores.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Relationship between lateralized (LH–RH) motor connectivity and Total Timed scores.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Relationship between lateralized (LH–RH) motor connectivity and Overflow scores.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Relationship between lateralized (LH–RH) connectivity in the M1/rostral-SMC region pair and Overflow scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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