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Cortical Network Dynamics during Foot Movements

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Abstract

The present work intends to evaluate the dynamics of the cerebral networks during the preparation and the execution of the foot movement. In order to achieve this objective, we have used mathematical tools capable of estimating the cortical activity via high-resolution EEG techniques. Afterwards we estimated, the instantaneous relationships occurring among the time-series of sixteen regions of interest (ROIs) in the Alpha (7–12 Hz) and Beta (13–29 Hz) band through the adaptive multivariate autoregressive models. Eventually, we evaluated the weighted-topology of the cerebral networks by calculating some theoretical graph indexes. The results show that the main structural changes are encoded in the highest spectral contents (Beta band). In particular, during the execution of the foot movement the cingulate motor areas (CM) work as network “hubs” presenting a large amount of outgoing links to the other ROIs. Moreover, the connectivity pattern changes its structure according to the different temporal stages of the task. In particular, the communication between the ROIs reaches its highest level of efficiency during the preparation of the foot movement, as revealed by the “small-world” property of the network, which is characterized by the presence of abundant clustering connections combined with short average distances between the cortical areas.

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Acknowledgment

The present study was performed with the support of the COST EU project NEUROMATH (BMB 0601), of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Division for the Scientific and Technologic Development, in the framework of a bilateral project between Italy and China (Tsinghua University) and the support of the European Union, through the MAIA project, the European IST Programme FET Project FP6-003758 and by the German Research Foundation (DFG Priority Program SPP 1114, LE 2025/1-3). This paper only reflects the authors’ views and funding agencies are not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdep. Research Centre for Models and Information Analysis in Biomedical Systems, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Corso V. Emanuele, 244, 00186, Rome, Italy

    Fabrizio De Vico Fallani & Alfredo Colosimo

  2. IRCCS “Fondazione Santa Lucia”, Rome, Italy

    Fabrizio De Vico Fallani, Laura Astolfi, Febo Cincotti, Donatella Mattia, Maria Grazia Marciani, Andrea Tocci & Fabio Babiloni

  3. Department of Human Physiology and Pharmacology, University “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Alfredo Colosimo & Fabio Babiloni

  4. Department of Computer and Systems Science, University “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Serenella Salinari

  5. Department of Neuroscience, University “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

    Maria Grazia Marciani

  6. Institute of Medical Statistics Computer Sciences and Documentation, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany

    Herbert Witte & Wolfram Hesse

  7. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijng, China

    Shangkai Gao

Authors
  1. Fabrizio De Vico Fallani
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  2. Laura Astolfi
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  3. Febo Cincotti
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  6. Andrea Tocci
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  7. Serenella Salinari
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  8. Herbert Witte
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  9. Wolfram Hesse
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  12. Fabio Babiloni
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Correspondence to Fabrizio De Vico Fallani.

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De Vico Fallani, F., Astolfi, L., Cincotti, F. et al. Cortical Network Dynamics during Foot Movements. Neuroinform 6, 23–34 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-007-9006-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-007-9006-6

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