Sergio, Lauren E.Rogojin, Alica2022-12-142022-12-142022-09-082022-12-14http://hdl.handle.net/10315/40765Eye-hand coordination is essential to our functional independence and relies on communication between widespread brain regions for successful unimanual and bimanual motor control. Eye-hand coordination performance has been shown to differ between the sexes, as well as between healthy aging individuals and those with dementia risk. The studies included within this dissertation were designed to characterize the structural and functional neural correlates of skilled movements across various populations in order to gain a better understanding of previously reported behavioural performance differences. The first two studies investigated changes in structural and functional integrity, respectively, of brain networks that may underlie known visuomotor behavioural deficits in older adults with an increased genetic (APOE e4) risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be a disconnection syndrome with characteristic patterns of disruption to structural and functional connectivity in the brain. A visuomotor task requiring the integration of different cognitive and motor domains via communication across multiple brain regions presents one way to test the integrity of these brain networks. The anatomical, diffusion-weighted, and resting state functional connectivity imaging data revealed that in older adult APOE e4 carriers, visuomotor deficits were predicted by i) lower grey matter volume and thickness of medial temporal lobe regions, ii) lower white matter integrity in several major tracts, and iii) decreased functional connectivity within the default mode and dorsal attention networks, in advance of any cognitive deficits. Historically, sex differences in unimanual and bimanual eye-hand coordination have also been observed, and a better understanding of the neural correlates of these differences could inform clinical practices on how to better tailor bimanual movement-based rehabilitation to the individual. The third study investigated the sex differences in functional connectivity of bimanual control, demonstrating connectivity differences between men and women despite equivalent behavioural performance. Taken together, these data provide novel insight into the neural correlates underlying one of our most fundamental human behaviours, eye-hand coordination, and their potential clinical implications.Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.NeurosciencesElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2022-12-14Alzheimer’s diseaseApolipoprotein (APOE) e4Dorsal attention networkDefault mode networkDiffusion tensor imagingEarly detectionGrey matterResting state functional connectivityVisuomotor integrationBimanual coordinationSequential finger movementsSex differencesTask-based functional connectivity