Brain control of precision grip during wrist movements in adults and children

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The present work aims at understanding further how the dominant process of human brain is like and more precisely, how coordination of different joint muscles is tuned during a complex movement. Within brain motor structures connectivity is questioned and the developmental aspect is addressed. This is of major importance to broaden our knowledge of the potential of brain circuits for functional adaptation (plasticity) following a lesion in adults or due to a preterm birth history in school-aged children. However, before dealing with mechanisms of physiopathology, there is a dire need to further understand how brain controls hand movements in healthy people. The basic mechanisms underlying the control of an interjoint muscle synergy between precision grip and wrist movements are thus investigated in healthy adults and healthy school-aged children born full-term. Standardized paradigms of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be used (single, paired-pulse and repetitive TMS) to detect the connections between the brain structures potentially involved in the interjoint coordination. Results may have a potential impact in neuro-rehabilitation to develop new therapeutic guidelines owing to brain functioning and thus promote training of hand function in patients with stroke and in preterm children living with motor coordination disorders.