fMRI Detection and Monitoring of Brain Motor Cortex activity During Ankle Dorsiflexion

The ability to walk independently with the velocity and endurance that permit usual home and community activities is of highly importance in neurological rehabilitation examinations after stroke. Compared to motor cortex studies of the upper limb, few studies have been done to detect and measure the relationship between the Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) and the resulting output. This study was guided to explore motor cortex activity pattern of brain areas related to ankle movement. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers (8 female , 12 male , mean age:32±3) participated in this experiment. All volunteers practiced ankle dorsiflexion before the exam. fMRI data was obtained using a GE Signa 1.5 Tesla MRI machine during ankle dorsiflexion. fMRI data which acquired with block design fashion were analyzed using SPM2 software. Results: Analysis of fMRI data showed specific area of brain cortex activation ranged from 2 to 7 pixels (mean 5±1.37 pixel) related to ankle dorsiflexion task. Conclusion: fMRI data of brain cortex activity in case of ankle dorsiflexion could be of significant importance in detection and also monitoring of brain activity in normal and disease condition and can be used to predict clinical condition of the patient specially after the stroke recovery and rehabilitation.

کلیدواژه ها:

fMRI ، Motor cortex ، ankle joint