This study provides the first investigation of supplementary motor area (SMA) and primary motor cortex (MI) activation with similar movements differing only in subjective difficulty of motor control. Brain activation with simple tapping of the right index finger (well trained during daily life and easy to perform) was compared with tapping of the little finger (less trained and difficult to perform) using functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla. Due to optimised movement standardisation, extrinsic influences on activation levels such as movement complexity, amplitude and frequency were minimised. Fifth finger tapping significantly increased the number of activated SMA voxels by 450% whereas MI activation showed no significant difference between fingers. We conclude that with similar movements the degree of subjective difficulty specifically modifies SMA but not MI activation.

In the pioneering works [e.g. Foerster 1936, Penfield et al. 1937] hand motor somatotopy was described using electrical stimulation of the brain. Today, techniques like MEG, PET, or FMRI allow to show motor somatotopy noninvasively. While somatosensoric mapping usually allows stable conditions, motor mapping is more difficult due to variabilities in movement execution. Therefore, there was a long debate about finger motor somatotopy organization which requires fine scale localization. However, recent investigations in human subjects achieved with FMRI [Kleinschmidt et al. 1997, Lotze et al. 2000], MEG [Cheyne et al. 1991], and lesion studies [Schieber 1999] indicate that finger motor somatotopy exists, at least concerning the centers of mass of overlapping somatotopic regions. Our group recently described similar findings with MEG [Erdler et al. 1998, 1999]. The goal of the present study was to investigate the quality of dipole solutions for finger motor somatotopy depending on the time window for the dipole fit, and in addition to examine the influence of different filter settings on the localization results.

Although qualitative reports about somatotopic representation of fingers in the human motor cortex exist, up to now no study could provide clear statistical evidence. The goal of the present study was to reinvestigate finger motor somatotopy by means of a thorough investigation of standardized movements of the index and little finger of the right hand. Using high resolution fMRI at 3 Tesla, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses in a group of 26 subjects were repeatedly measured to achieve reliable statistical results. The center of mass of all activated voxels within the primary motor cortex was calculated for each finger and each run. Results of all runs were averaged to yield an individual index and little finger representation for each subject. The mean center of mass localizations for all subjects were then submitted to a paired t test. Results show a highly significant though small scale somatotopy of fingerspecific activation patterns in the order indicated by Penfields motor homunculus. In addition, considerable overlap of finger specific BOLD responses was found. Comparing various methods of analysis, the mean center of mass distance for the two fingers was 2–3 mm with overlapping voxels included and 4–5 mm with overlapping voxels excluded. Our data may be best understood in the context of the work of Schieber (1999) who recently described overlapping somatotopic gradients in lesion studies with humans.

In the pioneering works (e.g. [5], [11]) hand motor somatotopy was described using electrical stimulation of the brain. Today, techniques like MEG, PET, or FMRI allow to show motor somatotopy noninvasively. While somatosensoric mapping usually allows stable conditions, motor mapping is more difficult due to variabilities in movement execution. Therefore, there was a long debate about finger motor somatotopy organization which requires fine scale localization. However, recent investigations in human subjects achieved with FMRI ([9], [10]), MEG ([2]), and lesion studies ([12]) indicate that finger motor somatotopy exists, at least concerning the centers of mass of overlapping somatotopic regions. Our group recently described similar findings with MEG ([3], [4]) and FMRI ([I])In the present study the quality of dipole solutions for finger motor somatotopy was investigated depending on filter settings and time point (respectively time window) of dipole fit. The best results using single time points could be achieved when the dipoles were fitted a few time points before the maximum of the motor field (MF). Averaging of dipole localizations over a small time period around these time points before the maximum of the MF led to even clearer separations of the 1 and 5 finger on the cranio-caudal axis.

Despite the fact that the knowledge about the structure and the function of the supplementary motor area (SMA) is steadily increasing, the role of the SMA in the human brain, e.g., the contribution of the SMA to the Bereitschaftspotential, still remains unclear and controversial. The goal of this study was to contribute further to this discussion by taking advantage of the increased spatial information of a whole-scalp magnetoencephalography (MEG) system enabling us to record the magnetic equivalent of the Bereitschaftspotential 1, the Bereitschaftsfeld 1 (BF 1) or readiness field 1. Five subjects performed a complex, and one subject a simple, finger-tapping task. It was possible to record the BF 1 for all subjects. The first appearance of the BF 1 was in the range of -1.9 to -1.7 s prior to movement onset, except for the subject performing the simple task (-1 s). Analysis of the development of the magnetic field distribution and the channel waveforms showed the beginning of the Bereitschaftsfeld 2 (BF 2) or readiness field 2 at about -0.5 s prior to movement onset. In the time range of BF 1, dipole source analysis localized the source in the SMA only, whereas dipole source analysis containing also the time range of BF 2 resulted in dipole models, including dipoles in the primary motor area. In summary, with a whole-head MEG system, it was possible for the first time to detect SMA activity in healthy subjects with MEG.

In light of artifact-induced high variability of activation in fMRI repeat studies, we developed and tested a clinically useful plaster cast head holder (PCH) with improved immobilization, repositioning, and comfort. With PCH, there were considerably lower levels of translational and rotational head motion components compared to head fixation with conventional restraining straps (CRS). Rotational components cannot be fully compensated by realignment and lead to "false activations." In addition, task-correlated head motion, which highly increases, the risk of artifacts, was considerably reduced with PCH, especially in a motion prone subject. Compared with PCH, head motion was 133% larger with CRS in a highly cooperative subject. With a motion prone subject, head motion range was increased by 769% (PCH: 0.9 mm, CRS: 7.8 mm), which may indicate the usefulness of PCH for restless patients. In functional activation maps, PCH alone yielded fewer residual motion artifacts than CRS + image registration. Subject tolerance of the head holder during the long measurement times of up to 2.5 hr was good, and slice orientation on different days confirmed the quality of repositioning. Hum. Brain Mapping 12:207-213, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) replication studies show a high variability of active voxels within subjects and across runs – a potentially harmful situation for clinical applications. We tried to reduce these uncertainties inherent in current presurgical FMRI. For this, a new high quality head fixation device was used to detect reliably activated voxels over repeated measurements. In addition high correlation thresholds were applied to define the areas with highest probability of activation. The results show a focussing of such functional high risk areas to only a few voxels which localized close to intraoperative cortical stimulation. The generation of such FMRI risk maps may improve validity of clinical localization and facilitate the development of currently missing standards for maximized but still safe tumor resection.

This investigation was designed to study the characteristics of a marker for harmonic processing and to test whether it could be used for differentiating harmonic processing capabilities. The first three chords of an ordinary musical cadenca were presented to the left ear to establish a harmonic context followed by a harmonic or non-harmonic target tone. Cadencas were presented rapidly and randomly in different keys to render the task difficult. Results showed a specific P3m (magnetic P300) effect to the non-harmonic targets which was only visible in subjects with low target recognition errors. Low resolution electro-magnetic tomography current density maps showed P3m sources in the right temporoparietal, left temporoparietal and frontocentral brain areas with right temporoparietal sources being strongest and most reliable. The results offer new possibilities to selectively study harmonic variables in music processing.

The validity of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) brain maps with respect to the sites of neuronal activation is still unknown. One source of localization error may be pixels with large signal amplitudes, since such pixels may be expected to overlie large vessels, running remote from the centre of neuronal activation. In this study, magnetoencephalography was used to determine the centre of neuronal activation in a simple finger tapping task. The localization accuracy of conventional FMRI depending on FMRI signal enhancement was investigated relative to the magnetoencephalography reference. The results show a deterioration of FMRI localization with increasing signal amplitude related to increased contributions from large vessels. We conclude that FMRI data analysis should exclude large signal amplitudes and that magnetoencephalography may help to improve FMRI brain mapping results in a multimethod approach.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a continuous memory recognition task. Readable non-words and abstract geometric figures were presented in an alternating manner with an inter-stimulus interval of 2.1 s. Probability of item repetition was 0.25, a lag of one item lay between initial presentation and repetition. OLD/NEW distinction was indicated by the subject's motor response. Using linked-mastoid electrodes for reference, material-specific hemispheric asymmetries of ERPs started 150 ms after stimulus onset in temporo-lateral and parietal recordings with ERPs elicited by non-words being lateralized to the left and those by figures to the right. Clear OLD/NEW ERP effects were found with non-words: Starting about 200-250 ms after stimulus presentation, ERPs of formerly presented (OLD) items were more positive-going in recordings over the midline than ERPs of items that were new and to be repeated (NEW). In contrast, no local OLD/NEW ERP-difference was found with figures. In some brain regions, OLD/NEW ERP-differences were larger over the left hemisphere compared to the right. This finding, however, did not differ between non-words and figures.