Studying the human somatosensory hand area: A new way to compare fMRI and MEG

The postcentral sulcal complex and the transverse postcentral sulcus and their relation to sensorimotor functional organization

It has been demonstrated that the postcentral sulcus, which forms the posterior boundary of the sensorimotor region, is a complex of distinct sulcal segments. Although the general somatotopic arrangement in the human sensorimotor cortex is relatively well known, we do not know whether the different segments of the postcentral sulcus relate in a systematic way to the sensorimotor functional representations. Participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they made movements of different body parts and the location of functional activity was examined on a subject-by-subject basis with respect to the morphological features of the postcentral sulcus. The findings demonstrate that the postcentral sulcus of each subject may be divided into five segments and there is a tight relationship between sensorimotor representations of different body parts and specific segments of the postcentral sulcus. The results also addressed the issue of the transverse postcentral sulcus, a short sulcus that is present within the ventral part of the postcentral gyrus in some brains. It was shown that, when present, this sulcus is functionally related to the oral (mouth and tongue) sensorimotor representation. When this sulcus is not present, the inferior postcentral sulcus which is also related to the oral representation is longer. Thus, the sulcal morphology provides an improved framework for functional assignments in individual subjects.

Neuromagnetic cortical activation during initiation of optokinetic nystagmus: an MEG pilot study

PURPOSE

To investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of cortical activation during the initiation of optokinetic nystagmus using magnetoencephalography.

BACKGROUND

Previous imaging studies of optokinetic nystagmus in humans using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging discovered activation of a large set of cortical and subcortical structures during steady-state optokinetic stimulation, but did not provide information on the temporal dynamics of the initial response. Imaging studies have shown that cortical areas responsible for vision in occipital and temporo-occipital areas are involved, i.e. cortical areas control optokinetic stimulation in humans. Magnetoencephalography provides measures that reflect neural ensemble activity in the millisecond time scale, allowing the identification of early cortical components of visuomotor integration.

DESIGN/METHODS

We studied neuromagnetic cortical responses during the initiation of optokinetic nystagmus in 6 right-handed healthy subjects. Neuromagnetic activity was recorded with a whole-head magnetoencephalograph, consisting of 143 planar gradiometers.

RESULTS

The mean (±SD) latency between stimulus onset and initiation of optokinetic nystagmus was 177.7 ± 59 ms. Initiation of optokinetic nystagmus evoked an early component in the primary visual cortex starting at 40-90 ms prior to the onset of the slow phase of nystagmus. Almost simultaneously an overlapping second component occurred bilaterally in the temporo-occipital area (visual motion areas), pronounced in the right hemisphere, starting at 10-60 ms prior to the slow-phase onset. Both components showed long-duration activity lasting for up to 100 ms after slow-phase onset.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the initiation of optokinetic nystagmus induces early cortical activation in the occipital cortex and almost simultaneously bilaterally in the temporo-occipital cortex. These cortical regions might represent essential areas for the monitoring of retinal slip.

Neuromagnetic beta and gamma oscillations in the somatosensory cortex after music training in healthy older adults and a chronic stroke patient

OBJECTIVE

Extensive rehabilitation training can lead to functional improvement even years after a stroke. Although neuronal plasticity is considered as a main origin of such ameliorations, specific subtending mechanisms need further investigation. Our aim was to obtain objective neuromagnetic measures sensitive to brain reorganizations induced by a music-supported training.

METHODS

We applied 20-Hz vibrotactile stimuli to the index finger and the ring finger, recorded somatosensory steady-state responses with magnetoencephalography, and analyzed the cortical sources displaying oscillations synchronized with the external stimuli in two groups of healthy older adults before and after musical training or without training. In addition, we applied the same analysis for an anecdotic report of a single chronic stroke patient with hemiparetic arm and hand problems, who received music-supported therapy (MST).

RESULTS

Healthy older adults showed significant finger separation within the primary somatotopic map. Beta dipole sources were more anterior located compared to gamma sources. An anterior shift of sources and increases in synchrony between the stimuli and beta and gamma oscillations were observed selectively after music training. In the stroke patient a normalization of somatotopic organization was observed after MST, with digit separation recovered after training and stimulus induced gamma synchrony increased.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed stimulation paradigm captures the integrity of primary somatosensory hand representation. Source position and synchronization between the stimuli and gamma activity are indices, sensitive to music-supported training. Responsiveness was also observed in a chronic stroke patient, encouraging for the music-supported therapy. Notably, changes in somatosensory responses were observed, even though the therapy did not involve specific sensory discrimination training.

SIGNIFICANCE

The proposed protocol can be used for monitoring changes in neuronal organization during training and will improve the understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying rehabilitation.

Physiological aging impacts the hemispheric balances of resting state primary somatosensory activities

To hone knowledge of sensorimotor cerebral organization changes with physiological aging, we focused on the primary somatosensory cortical area (S1). S1 neuronal pools (FS_S1) were identified by the functional source separation (FSS) algorithm applied to magnetoencephalographic recordings during median nerve stimulation. Age-dependence of FS_S1 was then studied at rest separately in the left and right hemispheres of 26 healthy, right-handed subjects between the ages of 24 and 95 years. The resting state FS_S1 spectral features changed with increasing age: (1) alpha activity slowed down; (2) total power increased only in the right hemisphere; (3) right>left interhemispheric asymmetry increased in the whole spectrum; (4) spectral entropy increased with age selectively in the left hemisphere. The present FSS-enriched electrophysiological procedure provided measures of resting state hand representation area sensitive to changes with age. Alterations were stronger in the right hemisphere. Relationships between resting state S1 activity and its responsiveness to external stimuli, revealed that the interhemispheric unbalances which emerged with age were conceivably due to an increased excitability within the right thalamocortical circuit impacting left versus right unbalances of spontaneous firing rates and of local inhibitory-excitatory networks.