Bimanual movements involve the interactions between both primary motor cortices. These interactions are assumed to involve phase-locked oscillatory brain activity referred to as inter-hemispheric functional coupling. So far, inter-hemispheric functional coupling has been investigated as a function of motor performance. These studies report mostly a negative correlation between the performance i...

Bimanual actions impose intermanual coordination demands not present during unimanual actions. We investigated the functional neuroanatomical correlates of these coordination demands in motor imagery (MI) of everyday actions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For this, 17 participants imagined unimanual actions with the left and right hand as well as bimanual actions while unde...

Corpus callosum (CC) is involved in the performance of bimanual motor tasks. We asked whether its functional role could be investigated by combining a motor behavioral study on bimanual movements in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with a quantitative magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis of CC, which is shown to be damaged in this disease. MS patients and normal subjects w...

Inhibitory processes play a significant role in the control of goal-directed actions. To increase insights into these mechanisms as a function of handedness, we measured the transient inhibition of volitional motor activity induced by single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation during bimanual isometric contractions with symmetrical and asymmetrical force demands. Here, we assess the cortica...

Bradykinesia is a well-documented DOPA-responsive clinical feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). While amplitude deficits (hypokinesia) are a key component of this slowness, it is important to consider how dopamine influences both the amplitude (hypokinesia) and frequency components of bradykinesia when a bimanually coordinated movement is required. Based on the notion that the basal ganglia are...

Hinder MR. Interhemispheric connectivity between distinct motor regions as a window into bimanual coordination. J Neurophysiol 107: 1791–1794, 2012. First published November 30, 2011; doi:10.1152/jn.00822.2011.—Performing coordinated bimanual movement is a fundamental feature of the human motor system, with imaging techniques revealing the involvement of an extensive network of motor regions in...

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex can interrupt voluntary contralateral rhythmic limb movements. Using the method of "resetting index" (RI), our study investigated the TMS effect on different types of bimanual movements. Six normal subjects participated. For unimanual movement, each subject tapped either the right or left index finger at a comfortable rate. For bimanua...

OBJECTIVE To describe the impaired fine-motor skills in patients with traumatic brain injury acquired in childhood. DESIGN A total of 165 patients with traumatic brain injury, aged 0-17 years, injured during the period 1987-1991, were identified. Fifteen years post-injury a questionnaire was sent to the patients. Twenty-six of the subjects had upper limb problems, 15 of whom agreed to partici...

OBJECTIVE To systematically review the evidence on the effect of constraint-induced movement therapy compared with bimanual intensive training in children with unilateral cerebral palsy. DATA SOURCES Seven electronic databases (Cinahl, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE, PEDro, PsycINFO, PubMed) were searched from database inception through December 2016. METHODS A systematic review was...