Functional brain areas associated with chopstick manipulation : a PET study

使用正电子发射断层扫描(PET)和健康受试者(N=9)，我们使用专家工具研究了涉及物体操纵的大脑区域。实验任务要求受试者用一双筷子从桌子上拿起一个小别针，搬运，然后把它放进篮子里。只使用手指完成相同任务的数据也被获得。与握指相比，握筷子在腹侧运动前区(PMV)尾侧和吻部、顶上区、顶内叶、颞中回(MTG)、初级感觉区、枕区和小脑(包括齿状核在内的侧半球和前半球)的活动显著增加。因此，这些皮质和皮质下区域可以在人类中形成一个学习良好的工具使用关联神经网络。左半球尾侧PMV和顶上皮质的激活支持这样的假设，即顶额叶回路是为了使用手持工具进行操作控制而发展起来的。左侧MTG的激活进一步支持了这样一种观点，即工具的使用需要代表工具及其相关行动的知识。在使用筷子的过程中，右侧顶上皮质也被激活，这表明顶叶对这一回路的贡献可能是双侧的。小脑半球的激活似乎支持为工具存储内部模型的想法，而小脑前部的激活表明在使用筷子时增加了运动误差校正。

Using positron emission tomography (PET) and healthy human subjects (N = 9), we investigated the brain areas involved in object manipulation with the use of a tool by experts. The experimental task required the subjects to use a pair of chopsticks for picking up a small pin from a table, transporting, and then releasing it into a basket. Data of the same task performed using only the fingers were also obtained. Chopstick prehension was associated with significantly higher activities in the caudal and rostra] portions of the ventral premotor (PMv) area, superior parietal area, intraparietal lobe, middle temporal gyrus (MTG), primary sensory area, occipital area, and cerebellum (lateral and anterior hemispheres including the dentate nucleus) as compared to finger prehension. These cortical and subcortical areas can thus form a well-learned tool-use associated neural network in humans. Activation of the caudal PMv and superior parietal cortex in the left hemisphere supported the hypothesis that the parieto-frontal circuit developed for manipulation control using a hand-held tool. Activation of the left MTG further supported the notion that a tool-use required representing knowledge of the tool and associated actions. The right superior parietal cortex was also activated during chopstick use, indicating that the parietal contribution to this circuit could be bilateral. Activation of the cerebellar hemisphere appeared to support the idea of stored internal models for a tool, while the activation of the anterior cerebellum suggested increased movement error correction during the use of chopsticks.