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Effects of intermanual transfer induced by repetitive precision grip on input–output properties of untrained contralateral limb muscles

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Abstract

Although there were many reports relating to intermanual transfer of behavioral motor tasks in humans, it is still not well-known whether the transfer phenomenon between the trained and untrained hand is accompanied by corresponding changes in motor system. In the present study we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation to investigate the practice effects of unilateral fingertip precision grip on corticospinal excitability, regarding both the trained and untrained hand muscles. The results showed that after practice fingertip grip force became steady and safety margin dramatically decreased not only in the trained hand, but also in the untrained hand. Regarding MEP and background EMG (B.EMG) activities, the regression slope of MEP/B.EMG ratio in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle became significantly steeper after practice in both hands, but in the thenar (TH) muscle there were no clear modulations. These results indicated that through practice qualitative or functional changes of corticospinal systems related to the reorganization for a fingertip precision grip prominently reflect only on FDI muscle which plays a dominant role in the task. More importantly, such effects were simultaneously seen in the untrained hand correspondent to the trained hand, i.e., changes of input–output property in M1 occur not only in the trained hand, but also in the untrained hand. Based on the present results, we suggest that training-induced neural adaptations of the central nervous system may include improvement of its predicting fingertip grip force for self-lifting of the object in the untrained hand.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Research Projects Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research number 16500380 (T.K.) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation of Locomotor System Dysfunction, Graduate School of health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

    Nan Liang

  2. Division of Sports and Health Sciences, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, 739-8529, Japan

    Makoto Takahashi, Zhen Ni, Takashi Kato & Tatsuya Kasai

  3. Department of Human Environment Sciences, Hiroshima Shudo University, 11-1 Otsuka-higashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima, 731-3195, Japan

    Susumu Yahagi

  4. Department of Human Sciences, Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-7-1, Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, 739-8521, Japan

    Kozo Funase

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  1. Nan Liang
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  2. Makoto Takahashi
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  3. Zhen Ni
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  4. Susumu Yahagi
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  7. Tatsuya Kasai
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Correspondence to Tatsuya Kasai.

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Liang, N., Takahashi, M., Ni, Z. et al. Effects of intermanual transfer induced by repetitive precision grip on input–output properties of untrained contralateral limb muscles. Exp Brain Res 182, 459–467 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1004-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1004-2

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