Table 1.
Functional plasticity through longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches: focus on the motor network.
| Study | Task/method | Design | Main outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longitudinal | |||
| Normal adults | |||
| Floyer-Lea and Matthews (2005) | Tracking sequential task/fMRI | Single training session vs. 15 min/session 5 weekdays/3 weeks | Early: ↘ activity DLPC, anterior cingulate, posterior parietal, M1 and cerebellar cortex |
| Long-term: ↗ activity left S1, M1 and right putamen | |||
| Steele and Penhune (2010) | FTT/fMRI | 5 weekdays | Early: ↗ cerebellum, PMC, basal ganglia, pre-SMA and SMA |
| Long-term: ↘ in these regions | |||
| Karni (1995) | FTT/fMRI | 10–20 min daily session/3 weeks | Greater activation in M1 was significantly compared to the extent of activation evoked by an untrained sequence |
| Hlustik et al. (2004) | FTT/fMRI | 15 min daily session/3 weeks | Gradual expansion of M1 and S1 correlating with performance |
| Hotermans et al. (2008) | FTT/rTMS | rTMS immediately before testing at 30 min, 4 or 24 h after practice | Early acquisition M1 supports performance, but is no longer mandatory following consolidation |
| Parsons et al. (2005) | FTT/fMRI | 5 weekdays | Early: ↗ activation in motor areas and ant/post CMA |
| Long-term: ↘ activation cerebellum, motor areas, striatum, fronto-parietal cortices | |||
| Pascual-Leone et al. (1995) | FTT/TMS | 2 h daily training vs. no-training control 5 days | Following training: hand motor areas enlarged while activation ↘ |
| Cross-sectional | |||
| Pianists vs. novices | |||
| Haslinger et al. (2004) | FTT/fMRI | Pianists recruited an extensive motor network but with a lesser degree of activation than novices | |
| Jäncke et al. (2000) | FTT/fMRI | Less activation in M1, SMA, pre-SMA, and CMA in pianists | |
| Krings et al. (2000) | FTT/fMRI | Pianists showed less activation in M1, SMA, and PMC |
FTT, finger tapping task; rTMS, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imagery; ↗, increase; ↘, decrease; M1, primary motor cortex; S1, primary somatosensory cortex; DLPC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; SMA, supplementary motor area; pre-SMA, pre-supplementary motor area; PMC, premotor cortex; CMA, cingulate motor areas.