Abstract #0996
Detection of ipsilateral and contralateral activation components in unilateral fingers-tapping using spinal BOLD fMRI
Ng M, Yang E, Wu E, Luk D, Hu Y, Lau H
The Jockey Club MRI Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam
Ipsilateral activation component has been reported in brain fMRI studies using unilateral finger motion. However, the ipsilateral component is usually task-dependent and sparsely distributed. In this study, spinal BOLD fMRI has been performed on 4 healthy right-handed volunteers performing unilateral fingers-tapping to investigate the ipsilateral and contralateral activation inside the cervical spinal cord. Our results showed that more activation were found at the spinal level C5-C6/C7. Bilateral activation was observed in all subjects both in left/right hand fingers-tapping. Spinal fMRI was sensitive to detect bilateral firing in fingers-tapping using dominant or non-dominant hands.
