ed. In contrast, lesions of the posterior limb of the internal capsule in combination with damage to lateral thalamus compromised motor outcome. In experimental tracing of the topography of the internal capsule in Macaque monkeys, we found axons of primary motor cortex passing through the middle third of the posterior limb of the internal capsule. Axons of premotor cortex passed through the capsular genu, and those of supplementary motor area through the anterior limb (Wolfgang, et al, 1992). This was an experimental study, replete with experimental and control groups. The authors prefaced their work with the assumption that the central motor system is, in clinical practice, commonly considered to be hierarchically organized, with the primary motor cortex in control of motor limbs, executing its influence via the pyramidal tract. The authors referred to studies which have been performed with monkeys (i.e. Macaque monkeys), upon which the primary conclusions were based. It should be stated that the type of stroke involved within this study concerns itself with capsular. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the clinical recovery of neurological function after acute ischemic brain injury. The potential role of ipsilateral cortical efferent pathways in recovery has been most dramatically suggested by the recovery observed in children following surgical hemispherectomy. The authors previously adduced evidence to support this notion. There are further clinical observations that the process of recovery from ischemic injury is associated with profound changes in the functional organization of the brain (Weiller, et al, 1992). The authors identified quantitative changes in regional cerebral blood flow and concluded that recovery from motor stroke due to comparatively small striatocapsular lesions is associated with a complex pattern of functional reorganization of the brain. This portion of the brain is, for the most part, at res...
