Intermanual transfer of learning in healthy and spinal cord injured individuals

University Of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

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Abstract

In healthy humans and patients with lesions of the CNS, leaming to perfomn a sequence of movements with one hand results in performance improvements in the opposite hand, a process referred to as interrtianual transfer. The neural substrates underlying this transfer function are incompletely understood. In patients with CNS lesions, understanding how iearning acquired with one limb transfers to a disabled, untrained limb could lead to more effective neurorehabilitative treatments. The purposes of the ROO phase are to (a) identify using fMRI and rTMS the mechanisms of intermanual transfer of motor learning to a disabled, untrained limb in patients with incomplete SCI, and (b) modulate excitability of the cortical areas in charge of the transfer function identified with fMRI and rTMS to facilitate intermanual transfer to the paralyzed limb.