The cortical effect of clapping in the human brain: A functional MRI study

Since development of functional MRI (fMRI), many studies have reported on cortical activation by external stimuli. However, there has been no fMRI study on the cortical effect of clapping. Using fMRI, we investigated the cortical activation effect of clapping in comparison with other motor tasks in the healthy human brain. Fourteen healthy volunteers were recruited. fMRI was performed using a 1.5-T Philips Gyroscan Intera with a standard head coil. Clapping, grasp-release movements, and sequential finger opposition of both hands were performed. Regions of interest (ROIs) were set at the primary sensori-motor cortex (SM1), supplementary motor cortex (SMA), and premotor cortex (PMC). The activated voxel number of all ROIs was in the following order: clapping, sequential opposition, and grasp-release movements. In the SM1, clapping showed the most significant activation, followed by sequential opposition, and grasp-release movements. By contrast, the PMC was most activated by sequential opposition, and then clapping and grasp-release movements, in order. As for the SMA, clapping evoked the most significant activation, followed by clapping, and grasp-release movements. We found that clapping showed the most significant cortical activation in ROIs among three motor tasks. Clapping appears to be an effective method for stimulation of the brain.