Longitudinal Assessment of Motor Recovery of Contralateral Hand after Basal Ganglia Infarction Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

We used functional fMRI to study the brain activation during active finger movements at different time points during the recovery phase following basal ganglia infarction. Four hemiplegic patients with basal ganglia infarction were serially evaluated at different time points spanning the acute and chronic phase using fMRI. To evaluate motor recovery, the patients were asked to perform functional tasks arranged in a block design manner with their hand. On follow-up (chronic phase), three patients achieved significant recovery of motor function of affected limbs. Activation of bilateral sensorimotor cortex (SMC) was observed in two of these patients, while activation of cerebellum was observed in all patients. No remarkable recovery of motor function was noted in one patient with left basal ganglia infarction. In this patient, the activation domain was located in SMC of both sides in acute phase and in ipsilateral SMC in chronic phase. Contralateral SMC appears to be involved in the functional rehabilitation following basal ganglia infarction. The cerebellum may act as an intermediary during functional recovery following basal ganglia infarction. The activation domain associated with active finger movement may be bilateral in acute phase; one patient was ipsilateral in the chronic stage.