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Dissociation of brain areas associated with force production and stabilization during manipulation of unstable objects

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Abstract

Multifinger dexterous manipulation of unstable or deformable objects requires control of both direction and magnitude of fingertip force vectors. Our aim was to study the neuroanatomical correlates of these two distinct control functions. Brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging while 16 male subjects (age: 26–42, M = 32, SD ± 4 years) compressed four springs representing a 2 × 2 factorial design with two levels of force and instability requirements. Significant activations associated with higher instability were located bilaterally in the precentral gyri, the postcentral gyrus, and the cerebellum. In the main effect for high force, activity was found in areas located in the primary motor regions contralateral to the active hand and bilaterally in the cerebellum. An overlap in activation between the two main effects was found bilaterally in the cerebellum (lobule VI). This study not only confirms a recently described bilateral fronto-parieto-cerebellar network for manipulation of increasingly unstable objects, but critically extends our understanding by describing its differentiated modulation with both force magnitude and instability requirements. Our results, therefore, expose a previously unrecognized and context-sensitive system of brain regions that enable dexterous manipulation for different force magnitude and instability requirements of the task.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (5925), Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, VINNOVA, Foundation Frimurare Barnhuset, Strategic Neuroscience Program at Karolinska Institutet and Knut and Alice Wallenberg, Foundation Stiftelsen Olle Engkvist Byggmästare. BV was funded by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship within the EU FP6 Framework Programme. This work was supported in part by grants (to FVC) NSF 0237258, and NIH HD048566 and AR050520. The authors are thankful to Peter Fransson, Ph.D., for his comments on the initial design of the fMRI paradigm, and to Kristine Mosier, DMD, Ph.D., for her insightful comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropediatric Research Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital Q2:O7, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

    Linda Holmström, Örjan de Manzano, Brigitte Vollmer, Lea Forsman, Fredrik Ullén & Hans Forssberg

  2. Stockholm Brain Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Linda Holmström, Örjan de Manzano, Brigitte Vollmer, Lea Forsman, Fredrik Ullén & Hans Forssberg

  3. Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Francisco J. Valero-Cuevas

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  1. Linda Holmström
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  2. Örjan de Manzano
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  3. Brigitte Vollmer
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  4. Lea Forsman
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  5. Francisco J. Valero-Cuevas
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  6. Fredrik Ullén
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  7. Hans Forssberg
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Correspondence to Linda Holmström.

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Holmström, L., de Manzano, Ö., Vollmer, B. et al. Dissociation of brain areas associated with force production and stabilization during manipulation of unstable objects. Exp Brain Res 215, 359–367 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2903-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2903-9

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