Most of our daily actions involve movements of the hand. The neuronal pathway contributing to the control of hand movements are complex and not yet completely understood. Recent studies highlight how task-dependent changes in cortical and subcortical pathways driven by contralateral and ipsilateral influences may open avenues to further understand the complexity of hand actions in healthy and disease. In the following section studies using transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation in healthy subjects and in individuals with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury will be highlighted to further understand neuronal pathways involved in the control of voluntary activity by hand muscles.
The author is with the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
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