Elsevier

NeuroImage

Volume 14, Issue 1, July 2001, Pages S132-S136
NeuroImage

Regular Article
Imitation and Matching of Hand and Finger Postures

https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0820Get rights and content

Abstract

Converging evidence from patients with unilateral brain lesions, from a patient with callosal disconnection, and from functional imaging in healthy subjects suggests different competencies of both hemispheres for imitation and matching of hand and finger postures. Whereas the left hemisphere is fully competent for processing hand postures, an additional right hemisphere contribution is needed for finger postures. I propose that the left hemisphere is responsible for coding gestures with reference to knowledge about the structure of the human body, whereas a right hemisphere contribution is needed for visuospatial exploration and analysis of gestures. Single case studies of patients with visuoimitative apraxia and results of functional imaging suggest a prominent role for left area 40 for body-part coding. Additional activation of left MT/V5 in the functional neuroimaging study may be related to processing of the motion implied by the gesture which is presented as a static image.

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    Address correspondence and reprint requests to author at Neuropsychologische Abteilung, Krankenhaus München Bogenhausen, Englschalkingerstrasse 77, D 81925 Munich, Germany. Fax: +49 89 9270 2089. E-mail: [email protected].

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