Brain injuries can cause a disparity in limb use

19.10.2022

Coordinated by Prof. Konstantinos Priftis, a research team from the University of Padua and Hospital of Padua, published the paper Chronic right motor neglect in the journal Cortex. The work investigates a very rare case of a patient suffering from a tumour (during a non-evolving state) in the left hemisphere since 2014. After the onset of the tumour, the patient, who had originally been right-handed became left-handed /ambidextrous. This, although he could still perfectly use his right arm and he was not affected by any basic motor deficits.

90% of the population is right-handed, i.e. the left hemisphere of the brain is mainly involved in the use of the limbs, but more than a clear distinction it can be said that what drives us to use one limb rather than another is the presence of circuits brain dedicated that make us aware of our actions. However, if there are lesions in one cerebral hemisphere, variations in the use of one or the other limb may occur.

The study represents a further cognitive step regarding the motor functions of the brain areas and opens up new scenarios on the understanding of motor deficiencies related to brain injuries and how they can modify manual preference.