How finger tapping practice enhances efficiency of motor control

Maximum-speed movements have been suggested to put maximum neural control demands on the primary motor cortex; hence, we are asking how primary motor cortex function changes to enable enhanced maximum movement rates induced by long-lasting practice. Cortical function was assessed by recording task-related spectral electroencephalogram &agr;-power. Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography was used to localize intracortical neuronal sources. The main result is a decrease in neural activity in the left hemisphere (ipsilateral to trained hand) from pretraining to posttraining, whereas right hemispheric activity remained constant across training. This likely reflects the initially limited capacity of the right hemisphere to control demanding left-hand movements, but also highlights its ability to become more efficient with training, indicated by reduced involvement of the left primary motor cortex after training.

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