Brain Region Activation/Deactivation during Right Hand Movement

Brain regions that showed significant activation (red) and deactivation (blue) during passive rhmin three groups of subjects: healthy controls (HC), relapsing-remitting MS patients (RRMS) and secondary progressive MS patients (SPMS).

Maps obtained by one sample t-test, corrected for age and gender at p<0.05 FWE (cluster level) are superimposed to a rendered T1 brain image. Cluster maxima for activation (red) included cerebellum and vermis, left pre- and postcentral gyri and inferior parietal lobule in all groups. In both RRMS and SPMS groups the left sensorimotor activation extended to include the adjacent parietal and temporal cortex and additional foci were observed in the supplementary motor area bilaterally and in the right (ipsilateral) cortical areas. 

In SPMS patients, activation was even more extended and involved additional cortical foci, i.e. the middle frontal gyrus, insula and temporal pole bilaterally. Significant deactivation (blue) was observed in the ipsilateral motor areas (arrow) in HC but not in either MS group. Deactivation in cortical areas outside the motor system, i.e. cuneus, precuneus and temporal areas, was present in HC and extended in RRMS MS patients. No foci of deactivation were observed in the SPMS group at this level of significance.