Remodeling of cortical activity for motor control following upper limb loss

Abstract

Objective: Upper extremity loss presents immediate and lasting challenges for motor control. While sensory and motor representations of the amputated limb undergo plasticity to adjacent areas of the sensorimotor homunculus, it remains unclear whether laterality of motor-related activity is affected by neural reorganization following amputation.

Methods: Using electroencephalography, we evaluated neural activation patterns of formerly right hand dominant persons with upper limb loss (amputees) performing a motor task with their residual right limb, then their sound left limb. We compared activation patterns with left- and right-handed persons performing the same task.

Results: Amputees have involvement of contralateral motor areas when using their sound limb and atypically increased activation of posterior parietal regions when using the affected limb. When using the non-amputated left arm, patterns of activation remains similar to right handed persons using their left arm.

Conclusions: A remodeling of activations from traditional contralateral motor areas into posterior parietal areas occurs for motor planning and execution when using the amputated limb. This may reflect an amputation-specific adaptation of heightened visuospatial feedback for motor control involving the amputated limb.

Significance: These results identify a neuroplastic mechanism for motor control in amputees, which may have great relevance to development of motor rehabilitation paradigms and prosthesis adaptation.

Keywords: EEG; Motor control; Neuroplasticity; Upper limb amputation.