Maria Assunta Rocca1,2, Gianna Riccitelli1,
Elisabetta Pagani1, Roberto Gatti3, Dennis Acella3,
Andrea Falini4, Giancarlo Comi2, Massimo Filippi1,2
1Neuroimaging Research
Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience,
Scientific Institute & University Hospital San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; 2Department
of Neurology, Scientific Institute & University Hospital San Raffaele,
Milan, Italy; 3Laboratory of Movement Analysis, School of
Physiotherapy, Scientific Institute & University Hospital San Raffaele,
Milan, Italy; 4Department of Neuroradiology, Scientific Institute
& University Hospital San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
In 45 healthy subjects, we investigated the short-term structural changes of the brain gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) associated with manual dexterity training, with and without acoustic feedback, and whether these changes persisted three months after the cessation of the motor training. We found that the feedback strategy applied during the motor training modulates the structure of the brain GM and WM. All the groups of our study experienced similar structural changes, but with a different temporal evolution. Structural changes occurred more rapidly in the group with the acoustic feedback.