MRI of Human Brain During Simple and Complex Movements of Dominant and Subdominant Hands in Normal Brain and Brain Tumors

Objective:To investigate the location of functional activation areas of motor cortex with BOLD fMRI in normal brain and brain tumors,as well as to study the value of BOLD fMRI in the clinical application of patients with brain tumors.Methods:Forty two cases, including 10 healthy volunteers and 32 patients with brain tumor,experienced BOLD fMRI at a Marconi Eclipse 1.5T MRI scanner.The functional images of brain motor cortex (activated by simple or complex finger movements of dominant and subdominant hands) were obtained. Results:The motor cortex of the normal brain were mainly located in contralateral somato-sensorial motor cortex (SMC),unilateral or bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA),pre-motor area (PMA) and bilateral cerebellum hemisphere.More cerebral motor areas could be activated by complex finger movements or subdominant hands than simple finger movements or dominant hands.For tumors involved functional area of brain cortex,the adjacent ipsilateral functional activation areas could be shrunk,displaced or diffusely distributed,but returned to normal after surgical operation. Conclusion:BOLD fMRI is an effective and non-invasive approach in localizing motor cortex of brain and is valuable for the precise localization of brain tumor before surgery.