Assessment of overlapping in cortical motor maps of hand muscles related to the grip movement using transcranial magnetic stimulation

• Grant number: 18/11853-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Principal Investigator: Oswaldo Baffa Filho
• Grantee: Gabriela Pazin Tardelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that has been widely used to construct functional maps of the human motor cortex for pre-surgical planning and motor control study. The cortical motor map is constructed by projecting the coordinates of the stimulation point, acquired with a neuronavigation system, and the amplitude of the motor evoked potentials (MEP) on the cortical surface. Despite the existence of different techniques, there is still no consensus about the best methodology to define the motor map region associated with a specific muscle group. Furthermore, the TMS pulses cause the simultaneous contraction of adjacent groups of muscles related to specific movements. In this context, evaluating the overlapping level of the cortical motor representation of a set of muscles associated with a particular movement might bring new perspectives to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in motor control. Thus, the main goal of this project is to evaluate the degree of overlap and to understand the coactivation of the target and adjacent muscles, related to the manual grip movement. The present study involves an experimental phase of motor mapping using neuronavigation TMS followed by a processing phase to analyze the motor maps.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TARDELLI, GABRIELA P.; SOUZA, VICTOR H.; MATSUDA, RENAN H.; GARCIA, MARCO A. C.; NOVIKOV, PAVEL A.; NAZAROVA, MARIA A.; BAFFA, OSWALDO. Forearm and Hand Muscles Exhibit High Coactivation and Overlapping of Cortical Motor Representations. BRAIN TOPOGRAPHY, v. 35, n. 3, p. 15-pg., 2022-03-09. (13/07699-0, 18/11853-8)