Localization of Primary Motor Cortex in Patients with Frontal-parietal Neoplasms: an fMRI Study

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which uses BOLD (blood oxygenation level dependent contrast) technique, allows the identification of physiologically activated brain areas by means of a local and transient magnetic resonance (MR) signal increase [l]. The physical and physiological bases of the observed signal changes are not totally understood. The most accepted theory associates a local decrease in deoxyhemoglobin concentration within the venous microcirculation with the MR signal increase detected during brain activation [2].