2010 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 189-194
[Purpose] Many studies have implicated the nerves connecting the basal ganglia to the supplementary motor area (SMA) in response to visual stimuli, but there have been few reports on the involvement of other areas of the brain. [Subjects] The subjects were 10 right-handed healthy adults (8 men, 2 women; mean age, 29.7, range: 22-47yrs) with no significant medical history or current medical problems. [Methods] We compared neural activities in the brain by functional MRI (fMRI), during a hand grasping task performed in response to periodic and aperiodic visual stimuli. [Results] Activity was significantly more extensive during performance of the aperiodic task. [Conclusion] We conclude that movement induced by unpredictable stimuli causes increased activity in the premotor cortex. Increased attention demanded by the unpredictable nature of the stimuli caused increased activation in the SMA, prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Rehabilitation exercises paying attention to unpredictable visual stimuli may significantly influence and increase activity in the brain.
