Functional connectivity during drawing after upper extremity peripheral nerve surgery: enhanced connectivity between motor and visuomotor-parietal regions.

IMPORTANCE

Recovery after upper extremity peripheral nerve injury (PNI) surgery depends on changes in cortical neural patterns that support sensorimotor control. Task-based functional connectivity (FC) can characterize these changes, yet few studies have explored FC during ecologically fine motor valid tasks after PNI.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate task-based FC with the left primary motor cortex (M1) during right hand drawing in individuals following right hand PNI surgery.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty-four right-handed adults, including 12 patients post PNI surgery (n = 8 with nerve repair, n = 4 with nerve transfer) and 32 healthy controls.

METHODS

All participants underwent fMRI while performing a RH visuomotor precision drawing task. Seed-based connectivity analysis was performed to characterize the pattern of FC between left M1 and all voxels in the brain. We hypothesized that left M1 FC would differ between patients and controls, between Repair and Transfer groups, and covary with time since surgery.

RESULTS

Patients (vs. controls) showed greater FC between left M1 and right visual and premotor cortices. Nerve transfer (vs. repair) showed greater FC between left M1 and right inferior parietal areas. Time since surgery was not linearly related to FC, though exploratory analyses suggested a negative association between log-time and FC between left M1 and right inferior parietal lobule.

CONCLUSION

After PNI surgery, visuomotor precision drawing involved distinct and behaviorally relevant neural patterns, which varied by task demand and potentially by surgical group despite clinical heterogeneity. Inferior parietal cortex may be especially engaged in early months after surgery (i.e. log-time). To improve recovery of upper limb function after PNI, clinical recommendations include incorporating early function-specific dexterous training, tailoring rehabilitation across surgical and recovery stages, and using multidimensional assessments of hand function.