Integrity of white matter in the corpus callosum correlates with bimanual co-ordination skills.

Journal article

Variation in brain structure may reflect variation in functional properties of specific brain systems. Structural variation may therefore reflect variation in behavioural performance. Here, we use diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to show that variation in white matter integrity in a specific region in the body of the corpus callosum is associated with variation in performance of a bimanual co-ordination task. When the callosal region showing this association is used as a seed for probabilistic tractography, inter-hemispheric pathways are generated to the supplementary motor area and caudal cingulate motor area. This provides further evidence for the role of medial wall motor areas in bimanual co-ordination and supports the idea that variation in brain structure reflects inter-individual differences in skilled performance.

Authors: Johansen-Berg, H; Della-Maggiore, V; Behrens, T; Smith, S; Paus, T

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: NeuroImage
• Volume: 36 Suppl 2
• Issue: SUPPL. 2
• Pages: T16-T21
• Publication date: 2007-01-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.041
• EISSN: 1095-9572
• ISSN: 1053-8119
• Language: English
• Keywords: Female; Humans; Corpus Callosum; Psychomotor Performance; Brain Mapping; Anisotropy; Middle Aged; Adult; Male; Functional Laterality; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging