[The motor hand area.  Noninvasive detection with functional MRI and surgical validation with cortical stimulation]. 
In this study, activation of cortical sites by specific motor tasks (opening and closing of the hand) was examined by fMRI utilizing the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) technique.  fMRI was employed in five volunteers and in six patients with tumors in the vicinity of the central region.  In the patients, the fMRI data and intraoperative cortical mapping were compared.  Our results indicate good correlation of these two methods and that there are no significant differences in the localization of the motor hand area.