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Downey JE, Schone HR, Foldes ST, Greenspon C, Liu F, Verbaarschot C, Biro D, Satzer D, Moon CH, Coffman BA, Youssofzadeh V, Fields D, Hobbs TG, Okorokova E, Tyler-Kabara EC, Warnke PC, Gonzalez-Martinez J, Hatsopoulos NG, Bensmaia SJ, Boninger ML, Gaunt RA, Collinger JL. A roadmap for implanting microelectrode arrays to evoke tactile sensations through intracortical microstimulation. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.04.26.24306239. [PMID: 38712177 PMCID: PMC11071570 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.24306239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is a method for restoring sensation to people with paralysis as part of a bidirectional brain-computer interface to restore upper limb function. Evoking tactile sensations of the hand through ICMS requires precise targeting of implanted electrodes. Here we describe the presurgical imaging procedures used to generate functional maps of the hand area of the somatosensory cortex and subsequent planning that guided the implantation of intracortical microelectrode arrays. In five participants with cervical spinal cord injury, across two study locations, this procedure successfully enabled ICMS-evoked sensations localized to at least the first four digits of the hand. The imaging and planning procedures developed through this clinical trial provide a roadmap for other brain-computer interface studies to ensure successful placement of stimulation electrodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- John E Downey
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Hunter R Schone
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Stephen T Foldes
- Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ
| | - Charles Greenspon
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Fang Liu
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Ceci Verbaarschot
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Daniel Biro
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - David Satzer
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Chan Hong Moon
- Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Brian A Coffman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | | | - Daryl Fields
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Taylor G Hobbs
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Elizaveta Okorokova
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | | | - Peter C Warnke
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | | | - Nicholas G Hatsopoulos
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Committee on Computation Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Sliman J Bensmaia
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Committee on Computation Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Michael L Boninger
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Robert A Gaunt
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Jennifer L Collinger
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
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Schone HR, Maimon Mor RO, Kollamkulam M, Gerrand C, Woollard A, Kang NV, Baker CI, Makin TR. Stable Cortical Body Maps Before and After Arm Amputation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.13.571314. [PMID: 38168448 PMCID: PMC10760201 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.13.571314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Neuroscientists have long debated the adult brain's capacity to reorganize itself in response to injury. A driving model for studying plasticity has been limb amputation. For decades, it was believed that amputation triggers large-scale reorganization of cortical body resources. However, these studies have relied on cross-sectional observations post-amputation, without directly tracking neural changes. Here, we longitudinally followed adult patients with planned arm amputations and measured hand and face representations, before and after amputation. By interrogating the representational structure elicited from movements of the hand (pre-amputation) and phantom hand (post-amputation), we demonstrate that hand representation is unaltered. Further, we observed no evidence for lower face (lip) reorganization into the deprived hand region. Collectively, our findings provide direct and decisive evidence that amputation does not trigger large-scale cortical reorganization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter R. Schone
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Roni O. Maimon Mor
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Mathew Kollamkulam
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Craig Gerrand
- Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, Stanmore, Middlesex, UK
| | | | - Norbert V. Kang
- Plastic Surgery Department, Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Chris I. Baker
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Tamar R. Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Rabe F, Kikkert S, Wenderoth N. Performing a vibrotactile discrimination task modulates finger representations in primary somatosensory cortex. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:1015-1027. [PMID: 37671429 PMCID: PMC10649835 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00428.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
It is well established that vibrotactile stimuli are represented in somatotopic maps. However, less is known about whether these somatotopic representations are modulated by task demands and maybe even in the absence of tactile input. Here, we used a vibrotactile discrimination task as a tool to investigate these questions in further detail. Participants were required to actively perceive and process tactile stimuli in comparison to a no-task control condition where identical stimuli were passively perceived (no-memory condition). Importantly, both vibrotactile stimuli were either applied to the right index or little finger, allowing us to investigate whether cognitive task demands shape finger representations in primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Using multivoxel pattern analysis and representational similarity analysis, we found that S1 finger representations were more distinct during the memory than the no-memory condition. Interestingly, this effect was not only observed while tactile stimuli were presented but also during the delay period (i.e., in the absence of tactile stimulation). Our findings imply that when individuals are required to focus on tactile stimuli, retain them in their memory, and engage in active processing of distinctive stimulus features, this exerts a modulatory effect on the finger representations present in S1.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we found that discrimination task demands shape finger representations in the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and that somatotopic representations are modulated by task demands not only during tactile stimulation but also to a certain extent in the absence of tactile input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Finn Rabe
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sanne Kikkert
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Wenderoth
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Amoruso E, Terhune DB, Kromm M, Kirker S, Muret D, Makin TR. Reassessing referral of touch following peripheral deafferentation: The role of contextual bias. Cortex 2023; 167:167-177. [PMID: 37567052 PMCID: PMC11139647 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
Some amputees have been famously reported to perceive facial touch as arising from their phantom hand. These referred sensations have since been replicated across multiple neurological disorders and were classically interpreted as a perceptual correlate of cortical plasticity. Common to all these and related studies is that participants might have been influenced in their self-reports by the experimental design or related contextual biases. Here, we investigated whether referred sensations reports might be confounded by demand characteristics (e.g., compliance, expectation, suggestion). Unilateral upper-limb amputees (N = 18), congenital one-handers (N = 19), and two-handers (N = 22) were repeatedly stimulated with computer-controlled vibrations on 10 body-parts and asked to report the occurrence of any concurrent sensations on their hand(s). To further manipulate expectations, we gave participants the suggestion that some of these vibrations had a higher probability to evoke referred sensations. We also assessed similarity between (phantom) hand and face representation in primary somatosensory cortex (S1), using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) multivariate representational similarity analysis. We replicated robust reports of referred sensations in amputees towards their phantom hand; however, the frequency and distribution of reported referred sensations were similar across groups. Moreover, referred sensations were evoked by stimulation of multiple body-parts and similarly reported on both the intact and phantom hand in amputees. Face-to-phantom-hand representational similarity was not different in amputees' missing hand region, compared with controls. These findings weaken the interpretation of referred sensations as a perceptual correlate of S1 plasticity and reveal the need to account for contextual biases when evaluating anomalous perceptual phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Amoruso
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK
| | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
| | - Maria Kromm
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK
| | - Stephen Kirker
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Dollyane Muret
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK.
| | - Tamar R Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
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