TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weitnauer, Ladina
A1  - Frisch, Stefan
A1  - Melie-Garcia, Lester
A1  - Preisig, Martin
A1  - Schroeter, Matthias
A1  - Sajfutdinow, Ines
A1  - Kherif, Ferath
A1  - Draganski, Bogdan
T1  - Mapping grip force to motor networks
T2  - NeuroImage
N2  - Aim: There is ongoing debate about the role of cortical and subcortical brain areas in force modulation. In a whole-brain approach, we sought to investigate the anatomical basis of grip force whilst acknowledging interindividual differences in connectivity patterns. We tested if brain lesion mapping in patients with unilateral motor deficits can inform whole-brain structural connectivity analysis in healthy controls to uncover the networks underlying grip force.
Methods: Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and whole-brain voxel-based morphometry in chronic stroke patients (n=55) and healthy controls (n=67), we identified the brain regions in both grey and white matter significantly associated with grip force strength. The resulting statistical parametric maps (SPMs) provided seed areas for whole-brain structural covariance analysis in a large-scale community dwelling cohort (n=977) that included beyond volume estimates, parameter maps sensitive to myelin, iron and tissue water content.
Results: The SPMs showed symmetrical bilateral clusters of correlation between upper limb motor performance, basal ganglia, posterior insula and cortico-spinal tract. The covariance analysis with the seed areas derived from the SPMs demonstrated a widespread anatomical pattern of brain volume and tissue properties, including both cortical, subcortical nodes of motor networks and sensorimotor areas projections.
Conclusion: We interpret our covariance findings as a biological signature of brain networks implicated in grip force. The data-driven definition of seed areas obtained from chronic stroke patients showed overlapping structural covariance patterns within cortico-subcortical motor networks across different tissue property estimates. This cumulative evidence lends face validity of our findings and their biological plausibility.
KW  - Stroke
KW  - Brain lesion
KW  - Magnetic resonance imaging
KW  - Voxel-based morphometry
KW  - Voxel-based quantification
KW  - Grip force
KW  - Structural covariance
KW  - Relaxometry
KW  - Multi-parameter mapping
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/78156
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-781564
SN  - 1053-8119
VL  - 229
IS  - 117735
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -