Motor and sensory cortical reorganization after bilateral forearm transplantation: Four-year follow-up fMRI case study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the cortical activity pattern of one patient who received bilateral forearm transplants.Using fMRI we acquired motor and sensory brain activity every year after surgery and during three consecutive years while the patient underwent physical rehabilitation.The motor related cortical activity evaluated during the first year showed a sparse pattern involving several brain regions. Over time, the analysis showed a progressive delimitation of the motor-related areas that had significant activity. The results also showed continuous size reductions of the activated cluster in the motor cortex. The activation in the sensory cortex showed significant increases in cluster size over time. The intensity of both motor and sensory cortical activations correlated with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire.Our results show significant cortical reorganization of motor and sensory cortices after transplantation of bilateral forearm transplantation over a four-year period.