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Lamorie-Foote K, Kramer DR, Sundaram S, Cavaleri J, Gilbert ZD, Tang AM, Bashford L, Liu CY, Kellis S, Lee B. Primary somatosensory cortex organization for engineering artificial somatosensation. Neurosci Res 2024; 204:1-13. [PMID: 38278220 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2024.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Somatosensory deficits from stroke, spinal cord injury, or other neurologic damage can lead to a significant degree of functional impairment. The primary (SI) and secondary (SII) somatosensory cortices encode information in a medial to lateral organization. SI is generally organized topographically, with more discrete cortical representations of specific body regions. SII regions corresponding to anatomical areas are less discrete and may represent a more functional rather than topographic organization. Human somatosensory research continues to map cortical areas of sensory processing with efforts primarily focused on hand and upper extremity information in SI. However, research into SII and other body regions is lacking. In this review, we synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding the cortical organization of human somatosensation and discuss potential applications for brain computer interface. In addition to accurate individualized mapping of cortical somatosensation, further research is required to uncover the neurophysiological mechanisms of how somatosensory information is encoded in the cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krista Lamorie-Foote
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Daniel R Kramer
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States
| | - Shivani Sundaram
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
| | - Jonathon Cavaleri
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Zachary D Gilbert
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Austin M Tang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Texas at Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Luke Bashford
- Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, T&C Chen Institute for Neuroscience, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States; Department of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Charles Y Liu
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; USC Neurorestoration Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Spencer Kellis
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; USC Neurorestoration Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Brian Lee
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; USC Neurorestoration Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Chicos LA, Rangaprakash D, Srinivasan SS, Gutierrez-Arango S, Song H, Barry RL, Herr HM. Resting state neurophysiology of agonist-antagonist myoneural interface in persons with transtibial amputation. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13456. [PMID: 38862558 PMCID: PMC11166995 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63134-4] [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: 04/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) is an amputation surgery that preserves sensorimotor signaling mechanisms of the central-peripheral nervous systems. Our first neuroimaging study investigating AMI subjects conducted by Srinivasan et al. (2020) focused on task-based neural signatures, and showed evidence of proprioceptive feedback to the central nervous system. The study of resting state neural activity helps non-invasively characterize the neural patterns that prime task response. In this study on resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging in AMI subjects, we compared functional connectivity in patients with transtibial AMI (n = 12) and traditional (n = 7) amputations (TA). To test our hypothesis that we would find significant neurophysiological differences between AMI and TA subjects, we performed a whole-brain exploratory analysis to identify a seed region; namely, we conducted ANOVA, followed by t-test statistics to locate a seed in the salience network. Then, we implemented a seed-based connectivity analysis to gather cluster-level inferences contrasting our subject groups. We show evidence supporting our hypothesis that the AMI surgery induces functional network reorganization resulting in a neural configuration that significantly differs from the neural configuration after TA surgery. AMI subjects show significantly less coupling with regions functionally dedicated to selecting where to focus attention when it comes to salient stimuli. Our findings provide researchers and clinicians with a critical mechanistic understanding of the effect of AMI amputation on brain networks at rest, which has promising implications for improved neurorehabilitation and prosthetic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A Chicos
- Biomechatronics Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - D Rangaprakash
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Shriya S Srinivasan
- Harvard-MA Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Allston, MA, 02134, USA
| | - Samantha Gutierrez-Arango
- Biomechatronics Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Hyungeun Song
- Biomechatronics Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- Harvard-MA Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Robert L Barry
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Harvard-MA Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Hugh M Herr
- Biomechatronics Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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Choi M, Kim HC, Youn I, Lee SJ, Lee JH. Use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify cortical loci for lower limb movements and their efficacy for individuals after stroke. J Neuroeng Rehabil 2024; 21:58. [PMID: 38627779 PMCID: PMC11020805 DOI: 10.1186/s12984-024-01319-8] [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: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identification of cortical loci for lower limb movements for stroke rehabilitation is crucial for better rehabilitation outcomes via noninvasive brain stimulation by targeting the fine-grained cortical loci of the movements. However, identification of the cortical loci for lower limb movements using functional MRI (fMRI) is challenging due to head motion and difficulty in isolating different types of movement. Therefore, we developed a custom-made MR-compatible footplate and leg cushion to identify the cortical loci for lower limb movements and conducted multivariate analysis on the fMRI data. We evaluated the validity of the identified loci using both fMRI and behavioral data, obtained from healthy participants as well as individuals after stroke. METHODS We recruited 33 healthy participants who performed four different lower limb movements (ankle dorsiflexion, ankle rotation, knee extension, and toe flexion) using our custom-built equipment while fMRI data were acquired. A subgroup of these participants (Dataset 1; n = 21) was used to identify the cortical loci associated with each lower limb movement in the paracentral lobule (PCL) using multivoxel pattern analysis and representational similarity analysis. The identified cortical loci were then evaluated using the remaining healthy participants (Dataset 2; n = 11), for whom the laterality index (LI) was calculated for each lower limb movement using the cortical loci identified for the left and right lower limbs. In addition, we acquired a dataset from 15 individuals with chronic stroke for regression analysis using the LI and the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale. RESULTS The cortical loci associated with the lower limb movements were hierarchically organized in the medial wall of the PCL following the cortical homunculus. The LI was clearer using the identified cortical loci than using the PCL. The healthy participants (mean ± standard deviation: 0.12 ± 0.30; range: - 0.63 to 0.91) exhibited a higher contralateral LI than the individuals after stroke (0.07 ± 0.47; - 0.83 to 0.97). The corresponding LI scores for individuals after stroke showed a significant positive correlation with the FMA scale for paretic side movement in ankle dorsiflexion (R2 = 0.33, p = 0.025) and toe flexion (R2 = 0.37, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS The cortical loci associated with lower limb movements in the PCL identified in healthy participants were validated using independent groups of healthy participants and individuals after stroke. Our findings suggest that these cortical loci may be beneficial for the neurorehabilitation of lower limb movement in individuals after stroke, such as in developing effective rehabilitation interventions guided by the LI scores obtained for neuronal activations calculated from the identified cortical loci across the paretic and non-paretic sides of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minseok Choi
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyun-Chul Kim
- Department of Artificial Intelligence, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Inchan Youn
- Bionics Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Song Joo Lee
- Bionics Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea.
| | - Jong-Hwan Lee
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
- Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
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Wahezi SE, Caparo MA, Malhotra R, Sundaram L, Batti K, Ejindu P, Veeramachaneni R, Anitescu M, Hunter CW, Naeimi T, Farah F, Kohan L. Current Waveforms in Spinal Cord Stimulation and Their Impact on the Future of Neuromodulation: A Scoping Review. Neuromodulation 2024; 27:47-58. [PMID: 38184341 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurom.2023.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neuromodulation is a standard and well-accepted treatment for chronic refractory neuropathic pain. There has been progressive innovation in the field over the last decade, particularly in areas of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and dorsal root ganglion stimulation. Improved outcomes using proprietary waveforms have become customary in the field, leading to an unprecedented expansion of these products and a plethora of options for the management of pain. Although advances in waveform technology have improved our fundamental understanding of neuromodulation, a scoping review describing new energy platforms and their associated clinical effects and outcomes is needed. The authors submit that understanding electrophysiological neuromodulation may be important for clinical decision-making and programming selection for personalized patient care. OBJECTIVE This review aims to characterize ways differences in mechanism of action and clinical outcomes of current spinal neuromodulation products may affect contemporary clinical decision-making while outlining a possible path for the future SCS. STUDY DESIGN The study is a scoping review of the literature about newer generation SCS waveforms. MATERIALS AND METHODS A literature report was performed on PubMed and chapters to include articles on spine neuromodulation mechanism of action and efficacy. RESULTS A total of 8469 studies were identified, 75 of which were included for the scoping review after keywords defining recent waveform technology were added. CONCLUSIONS Clinical data suggest that neuromodulation remains a promising tool in the treatment of chronic pain. The evidence for SCS for treating chronic pain seems compelling; however, more long-term and comparative data are needed for a comparison of waveforms when it comes to the etiology of pain. In addition, an exploration into combination waveform therapy and waveform cycling may be paramount for future clinical studies and the development of new technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayed E Wahezi
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA.
| | - Moorice A Caparo
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Ria Malhotra
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Lakshman Sundaram
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Kevin Batti
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Prince Ejindu
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | | | - Magdalena Anitescu
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Corey W Hunter
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Tahereh Naeimi
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Fadi Farah
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Lynn Kohan
- Multidisciplinary Pain Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
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Bravo M, Joon HL, Fallon J, Iansek R, Shoushtarian M. Towards non-invasive peripheral stimulation as a treatment for Parkinson's disease gait. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023; 2023:1-4. [PMID: 38083474 DOI: 10.1109/embc40787.2023.10340670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Non-invasive coordinated reset stimulation (CRS) to the hands has been shown to improve motor ability in Parkinson's patients, but not specific for gait disturbances. The overall aim of the project is the application of vibrotactile CRS to the feet to improve gait impairments in Parkinson's disease. As a first step towards this objective, we showed that vibrotactile stimulation to the feet can elicit a cortical response and have identified differences in younger and older individuals. Our findings suggest the potential for non-invasive peripheral stimulation as a therapeutic technique.Clinical Relevance- This is an important step towards developing a non-invasive stimulation technique for the management of gait disturbances in Parkinson's disease.
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Chicos L, Rangaprakash D, Barry R, Herr H. Resting state neurophysiology of agonist-antagonist myoneural interface in persons with transtibial amputation. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2362961. [PMID: 36798194 PMCID: PMC9934762 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2362961/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
The agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) is a novel amputation surgery that preserves sensorimotor signaling mechanisms of the central-peripheral nervous systems. Our first neuroimaging study investigating AMI subjects (Srinivasan et al., Sci. Transl. Med. 2020) focused on task-based neural signatures, and showed evidence of proprioceptive feedback to the central nervous system. The study of resting state neural activity helps non-invasively characterize the neural patterns that prime task response. In this first study on resting state fMRI in AMI subjects, we compared resting state functional connectivity in patients with transtibial AMI (n=12) and traditional (n=7) amputations, as well as biologically intact control subjects (n=10). We hypothesized that the AMI surgery will induce functional network reorganization that significantly differs from the traditional amputation surgery and also more closely resembles the neural configuration of controls. We found AMI subjects to have lower connectivity with salience and motor seed regions compared to traditional amputees. Additionally, with connections affected in traditional amputees, AMI subjects exhibited a connectivity pattern more closely resembling controls. Lastly, sensorimotor connectivity in amputee cohorts was significantly associated with phantom sensation (R2=0.7, p=0.0008). These findings provide researchers and clinicians with a critical mechanistic understanding of the effects of the AMI surgery on the brain at rest, spearheading future research towards improved prosthetic control and embodiment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Robert Barry
- Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School
| | - Hugh Herr
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Riegner G, Posey G, Oliva V, Jung Y, Mobley W, Zeidan F. Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is driven by thalamic-default mode network decoupling. Pain 2023; 164:280-291. [PMID: 36095039 PMCID: PMC9823141 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT For millenniums, mindfulness was believed to diminish pain by reducing the influence of self-appraisals of noxious sensations. Today, mindfulness meditation is a highly popular and effective pain therapy that is believed to engage multiple, nonplacebo-related mechanisms to attenuate pain. Recent evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is associated with the engagement of unique cortico-thalamo-cortical nociceptive filtering mechanisms. However, the functional neural connections supporting mindfulness meditation-based analgesia remain unknown. This mechanistically focused clinical trial combined functional magnetic resonance imaging with psychophysical pain testing (49°C stimulation and pain visual analogue scales) to identify the neural connectivity supporting the direct modulation of pain-related behavioral and neural responses by mindfulness meditation. We hypothesized that mindfulness meditation-based pain relief would be reflected by greater decoupling between brain mechanisms supporting appraisal (prefrontal) and nociceptive processing (thalamus). After baseline pain testing, 40 participants were randomized to a well-validated, 4-session mindfulness meditation or book-listening regimen. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and noxious heat (49°C; right calf) were combined during meditation to test study hypotheses. Mindfulness meditation significantly reduced behavioral and neural pain responses when compared to the controls. Preregistered (NCT03414138) whole-brain analyses revealed that mindfulness meditation-induced analgesia was moderated by greater thalamus-precuneus decoupling and ventromedial prefrontal deactivation, respectively, signifying a pain modulatory role across functionally distinct neural mechanisms supporting self-referential processing. Two separate preregistered seed-to-seed analyses found that mindfulness meditation-based pain relief was also associated with weaker contralateral thalamic connectivity with the prefrontal and primary somatosensory cortex, respectively. Thus, we propose that mindfulness meditation is associated with a novel self-referential nociceptive gating mechanism to reduce pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Riegner
- Department of Anesthesiology; University of California San Diego; La Jolla, CA, 92037; United States
| | - Grace Posey
- Department of Medicine; Tulane University School of Medicine; New Orleans, LA, 70112; United States
| | - Valeria Oliva
- Department of Anesthesiology; University of California San Diego; La Jolla, CA, 92037; United States
| | - Youngkyoo Jung
- Department of Radiology; University of California Davis; Sacramento, CA, 95817; United States
| | - William Mobley
- Department of Neurosciences; University of California San Diego; La Jolla, CA, 92093; United States
| | - Fadel Zeidan
- Department of Anesthesiology; University of California San Diego; La Jolla, CA, 92037; United States
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de Oliveira ÍAF, Siero JCW, Dumoulin SO, van der Zwaag W. Improved Selectivity in 7 T Digit Mapping Using VASO-CBV. Brain Topogr 2023; 36:23-31. [PMID: 36517699 PMCID: PMC9834127 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-022-00932-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at Ultra-high field (UHF, ≥ 7 T) benefits from significant gains in the BOLD contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) compared to conventional field strengths (3 T). Although these improvements enabled researchers to study the human brain to unprecedented spatial resolution, the blood pooling effect reduces the spatial specificity of the widely-used gradient-echo BOLD acquisitions. In this context, vascular space occupancy (VASO-CBV) imaging may be advantageous since it is proposed to have a higher spatial specificity than BOLD. We hypothesized that the assumed higher specificity of VASO-CBV imaging would translate to reduced overlap in fine-scale digit representation maps compared to BOLD-based digit maps. We used sub-millimeter resolution VASO fMRI at 7 T to map VASO-CBV and BOLD responses simultaneously in the motor and somatosensory cortices during individual finger movement tasks. We assessed the cortical overlap in different ways, first by calculating similarity coefficient metrics (DICE and Jaccard) and second by calculating selectivity measures. In addition, we demonstrate a consistent topographical organization of the targeted digit representations (thumb-index-little finger) in the motor areas. We show that the VASO-CBV responses yielded less overlap between the digit clusters than BOLD, and other selectivity measures were higher for VASO-CBV too. In summary, these results were consistent across metrics and participants, confirming the higher spatial specificity of VASO-CBV compared to BOLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ícaro A. F. de Oliveira
- grid.458380.20000 0004 0368 8664Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Meibergdreef 75, 1105 BK Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.419918.c0000 0001 2171 8263Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen C. W. Siero
- grid.458380.20000 0004 0368 8664Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Meibergdreef 75, 1105 BK Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.7692.a0000000090126352Radiology, Utrecht Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Serge O. Dumoulin
- grid.458380.20000 0004 0368 8664Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Meibergdreef 75, 1105 BK Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.419918.c0000 0001 2171 8263Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.5477.10000000120346234Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Wietske van der Zwaag
- grid.458380.20000 0004 0368 8664Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Meibergdreef 75, 1105 BK Amsterdam, The Netherlands ,grid.419918.c0000 0001 2171 8263Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Cole DM, Stämpfli P, Gandia R, Schibli L, Gantner S, Schuetz P, Meier ML. In the back of your mind: Cortical mapping of paraspinal afferent inputs. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4943-4953. [PMID: 35979921 PMCID: PMC9582373 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Topographic organisation is a hallmark of vertebrate cortex architecture, characterised by ordered projections of the body's sensory surfaces onto brain systems. High-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has proven itself as a valuable tool to investigate the cortical landscape and its (mal-)adaptive plasticity with respect to various body part representations, in particular extremities such as the hand and fingers. Less is known, however, about the cortical representation of the human back. We therefore validated a novel, MRI-compatible method of mapping cortical representations of sensory afferents of the back, using vibrotactile stimulation at varying frequencies and paraspinal locations, in conjunction with fMRI. We expected high-frequency stimulation to be associated with differential neuronal activity in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) compared with low-frequency stimulation and that somatosensory representations would differ across the thoracolumbar axis. We found significant differences between neural representations of high-frequency and low-frequency stimulation and between representations of thoracic and lumbar paraspinal locations, in several bilateral S1 sub-regions, and in regions of the primary motor cortex (M1). High-frequency stimulation preferentially activated Brodmann Area (BA) regions BA3a and BA4p, whereas low-frequency stimulation was more encoded in BA3b and BA4a. Moreover, we found clear topographic differences in S1 for representations of the upper and lower back during high-frequency stimulation. We present the first neurobiological validation of a method for establishing detailed cortical maps of the human back, which might serve as a novel tool to evaluate the pathological significance of neuroplastic changes in clinical conditions such as chronic low back pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Cole
- Integrative Spinal Research, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Stämpfli
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,MR-Center of the Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Robert Gandia
- Competence Center Thermal Energy Storage, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Louis Schibli
- Competence Center Thermal Energy Storage, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Sandro Gantner
- Competence Center Thermal Energy Storage, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Schuetz
- Competence Center Thermal Energy Storage, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Michael L Meier
- Integrative Spinal Research, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Sulpizio V, Strappini F, Fattori P, Galati G, Galletti C, Pecchinenda A, Pitzalis S. The human middle temporal cortex responds to both active leg movements and egomotion-compatible visual motion. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:2573-2592. [PMID: 35963915 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02549-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The human middle-temporal region MT+ is highly specialized in processing visual motion. However, recent studies have shown that this region is modulated by extraretinal signals, suggesting a possible involvement in processing motion information also from non-visual modalities. Here, we used functional MRI data to investigate the influence of retinal and extraretinal signals on MT+ in a large sample of subjects. Moreover, we used resting-state functional MRI to assess how the subdivisions of MT+ (i.e., MST, FST, MT, and V4t) are functionally connected. We first compared responses in MST, FST, MT, and V4t to coherent vs. random visual motion. We found that only MST and FST were positively activated by coherent motion. Furthermore, regional analyses revealed that MST and FST were positively activated by leg, but not arm, movements, while MT and V4t were deactivated by arm, but not leg, movements. Taken together, regional analyses revealed a visuomotor role for the anterior areas MST and FST and a pure visual role for the anterior areas MT and V4t. These findings were mirrored by the pattern of functional connections between these areas and the rest of the brain. Visual and visuomotor regions showed distinct patterns of functional connectivity, with the latter preferentially connected with the somatosensory and motor areas representing leg and foot. Overall, these findings reveal a functional sensitivity for coherent visual motion and lower-limb movements in MST and FST, suggesting their possible involvement in integrating sensory and motor information to perform locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Sulpizio
- Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | | | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Galati
- Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico'', 00194, Rome, Italy.
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11
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Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 in the Dysgranular Zone of Primary Somatosensory Cortex Mediates Neuropathic Pain in Rats. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10071633. [PMID: 35884938 PMCID: PMC9313034 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10071633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) plays a key role in the discrimination of somatic sensations. Among subdivisions in S1, the dysgranular zone of rodent S1 (S1DZ) is homologous to Brodmann’s area 3a of primate S1, which is involved in the processing of noxious signals from the body. However, molecular changes in this region and their role in the pathological pain state have never been studied. In this study, we identified molecular alteration of the S1DZ in a rat model of neuropathic pain induced by right L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) surgery and investigated its functional role in pain symptoms. Brain images acquired from SNL group and control group in our previous study were analyzed, and behaviors were measured using the von Frey test, acetone test, and conditioned place preference test. We found that metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) levels were significantly upregulated in the S1DZ contralateral to the nerve injury in the SNL group compared to the sham group. Pharmacological deactivation of mGluR5 in S1DZ ameliorated symptoms of neuropathic allodynia, which was shown by a significant increase in the mechanical paw withdrawal threshold and a decrease in the behavioral response to cold stimuli. We further confirmed that this treatment induced relief from the tonic-aversive state of chronic neuropathic pain, as a place preference memory associated with the treatment-paired chamber was formed in rats with neuropathic pain. Our data provide evidence that mGluR5 in the S1DZ is involved in the manifestation of abnormal pain sensations in the neuropathic pain state.
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12
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Jones L, Verriotis M, Cooper RJ, Laudiano-Dray MP, Rupawala M, Meek J, Fabrizi L, Fitzgerald M. Widespread nociceptive maps in the human neonatal somatosensory cortex. eLife 2022; 11:71655. [PMID: 35451960 PMCID: PMC9090328 DOI: 10.7554/elife.71655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Topographic cortical maps are essential for spatial localisation of sensory stimulation and generation of appropriate task-related motor responses. Somatosensation and nociception are finely mapped and aligned in the adult somatosensory (S1) cortex, but in infancy, when pain behaviour is disorganised and poorly directed, nociceptive maps may be less refined. We compared the topographic pattern of S1 activation following noxious (clinically required heel lance) and innocuous (touch) mechanical stimulation of the same skin region in newborn infants (n = 32) using multioptode functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Within S1 cortex, touch and lance of the heel elicit localised, partially overlapping increases in oxygenated haemoglobin concentration (Δ[HbO]), but while touch activation was restricted to the heel area, lance activation extended into cortical hand regions. The data reveals a widespread cortical nociceptive map in infant S1, consistent with their poorly directed pain behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Jones
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Madeleine Verriotis
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robert J Cooper
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Pureza Laudiano-Dray
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mohammed Rupawala
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Judith Meek
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Obstetric Wing, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lorenzo Fabrizi
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Fitzgerald
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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13
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Analysis of Intracerebral Activity during Reflex Locomotion Stimulation According to Vojta’s Principle. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/app12042225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Vojta’s therapy is a widely used approach in both the prevention and therapy of musculoskeletal disorders. Changes in the musculoskeletal system have been described repeatedly, but the principles of the approach have not yet been clarified. The objective of our study was to evaluate changes of intracerebral activity using electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) that arise during reflex locomotion stimulation of the breast trigger zone according to Vojta’s therapy. Seventeen healthy women took part in the experiment (aged 20–30 years old). EEG activity was recorded 5 min prior to the reflex locomotion stimulation, during stimulation, and 5 min after the stimulation. The obtained data were subsequently processed in the sLORETA program and statistically evaluated at the significance level p ≤ 0.05. The analysis found statistically significant differences in the frequency bands alpha-2, beta-1, and beta-2 between the condition prior to stimulation and the actual stimulation in BAs 6, 7, 23, 24, and 31 and between the resting condition prior to stimulation, and the condition after the stimulation was terminated in the frequency bands alpha-1, alpha-2, beta-1, and beta-2 in BAs 3, 4, 6, and 24. The results showed that reflex locomotion stimulation according to Vojta’s therapy modulates electrical activity in the brain areas responsible for movement planning and regulating and performing the movement.
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14
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Li D, Liu R, Meng L, Xiong P, Ren H, Zhang L, Gao Y. Abnormal Ventral Somatomotor Network Homogeneity in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:877956. [PMID: 35782421 PMCID: PMC9247252 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.877956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abnormalities of functional connectivity in the somatomotor network have been thought to play an essential role in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. However, there has been no network homogeneity (NH) study about the ventral somatomotor network (VSN) in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Therefore, we explored the NH of the VSN in TLE patients in this study. METHODS The sample included 52 patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy, 83 patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy, and 68 healthy controls. The NH method was utilized to analyze the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. RESULTS Compared to the controls, rTLE patients had significantly higher NH in the bilateral postcentral gyrus, and significantly lower NH in the bilateral Rolandic operculum and the right superior temporal gyrus (STG). The NH values of the left postcentral gyrus were significantly higher in lTLE patients than in the healthy controls, and lTLE patients had lower NH in the right Rolandic operculum. The altered NH in the postcentral gyrus was negatively correlated with the illness duration, and the decreased NH in the left Rolandic operculum was negatively correlated with the executive control reaction time (ECRT). CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that altered NH of the postcentral gyrus, Rolandic operculum and STG might be associated with the pathophysiology of TLE, and thus, highlight the contribution of the VSN to the pathophysiology of TLE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongbin Li
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.,First Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Center, Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital, Harbin, China
| | - Ruoshi Liu
- Department of Neurology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Lili Meng
- Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China.,Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China
| | - Pingan Xiong
- Department of Taihe Hospital Reproductive Medicine Center Affiliated To Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China
| | - Hongwei Ren
- Department of Medical Imaging, Tianyou Hospital Affiliated To Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Liming Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Yujun Gao
- Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
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15
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Flores LE, Alarcón G, Eckstrand KL, Lindenmuth M, Forbes EE. Interpersonal context and desired emotional closeness in neural response to negative visual stimuli: Preliminary findings. Brain Behav 2022; 12:e2438. [PMID: 34874622 PMCID: PMC8785641 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Emotions typically emerge in interpersonal contexts, but the neural circuitry involved remains insufficiently understood. Two key features of interpersonal contexts are interpersonal interactions (e.g., supportive physical touch serving as a form of social regulation) and interpersonal traits. Social regulation research has predominately focused on fear by using physical threat (i.e., electric shock) as the stimulus. Given that social regulation helps with various negative emotions in the real world, using visual stimuli that elicit negative emotions more broadly would also be beneficial. Differing from trait loneliness-which is related to lower recruitment of social circuitry in negative socioaffective contexts-trait desired emotional closeness is related to adaptive outcomes and may demonstrate an opposite pattern. This study investigated the roles of social regulation and desired emotional closeness in neural response to aversive social images. METHODS Ten pairs of typically developing emerging adult friends (N = 20; ages 18-25) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) handholding task. Each friend viewed negative and neutral social images in the scanner under two conditions: (a) holding their friend's hand and (b) having their friend in the room. RESULTS Handholding attenuated response to aversive social images in a region implicated in emotion and inhibitory control (right dorsal striatum/anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex). Desired emotional closeness was positively associated with response to aversive social images (in the no handholding condition) in self and social processing (right ventral posterior cingulate cortex) and somatosensory regions (right postcentral gyrus). DISCUSSION These findings extend previous research on the roles of interpersonal behaviors and tendencies in neural response to aversive stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Flores
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
| | - Gabriela Alarcón
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kristen L Eckstrand
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Morgan Lindenmuth
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Erika E Forbes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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16
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Zlatkina V, Sprung-Much T, Petrides M. Spatial probability maps of the segments of the postcentral sulcus in the human brain. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:3651-3668. [PMID: 34963136 PMCID: PMC9433426 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The postcentral sulcus is the posterior boundary of the postcentral gyrus where the somatosensory cortex is represented. In the human brain, the postcentral sulcus is composed of five distinct segments that are related to the somatosensory representation of different parts of the body. Segment 1 of the postcentral sulcus, located near the dorsomedial boundary of each hemisphere, is associated with toe/leg representations, segment 2 with arm/hand representations, segment 3 with blinking, and segments 4 and 5, which are near the lateral fissure and the parietal operculum, with the mouth and tongue representations. The variability in location and spatial extent of these five segments were quantified in 40 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) anatomical brain scans registered to the stereotaxic space of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI space), in the form of volumetric (using MINC Toolkit) and surface (using FreeSurfer) spatial probability maps. These probability maps can be used by researchers and clinicians to improve the localization of the segments of the postcentral sulcus in MRI images of interest and also to improve the interpretation of the location of activation peaks generated in functional neuroimaging studies investigating somatosensory cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Zlatkina
- Address correspondence to Veronika Zlatkina, Montreal Neurological Institute, 3801 University St., Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
| | - Trisanna Sprung-Much
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Michael Petrides
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
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17
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Di Marco S, Sulpizio V, Bellagamba M, Fattori P, Galati G, Galletti C, Lappe M, Maltempo T, Pitzalis S. Multisensory integration in cortical regions responding to locomotion-related visual and somatomotor signals. Neuroimage 2021; 244:118581. [PMID: 34543763 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
During real-world locomotion, in order to be able to move along a path or avoid an obstacle, continuous changes in self-motion direction (i.e. heading) are needed. Control of heading changes during locomotion requires the integration of multiple signals (i.e., visual, somatomotor, vestibular). Recent fMRI studies have shown that both somatomotor areas (human PEc [hPEc], human PE [hPE], primary somatosensory cortex [S-I]) and egomotion visual regions (cingulate sulcus visual area [CSv], posterior cingulate area [pCi], posterior insular cortex [PIC]) respond to either leg movements and egomotion-compatible visual stimulations, suggesting a role in the analysis of both visual attributes of egomotion and somatomotor signals with the aim of guiding locomotion. However, whether these regions are able to integrate egomotion-related visual signals with somatomotor inputs coming from leg movements during heading changes remains an open question. Here we used a combined approach of individual functional localizers and task-evoked activity by fMRI. In thirty subjects we first localized three egomotion areas (CSv, pCi, PIC) and three somatomotor regions (S-I, hPE, hPEc). Then, we tested their responses in a multisensory integration experiment combining visual and somatomotor signals relevant to locomotion in congruent or incongruent trials. We used an fMR-adaptation paradigm to explore the sensitivity to the repeated presentation of these bimodal stimuli in the six regions of interest. Results revealed that hPE, S-I and CSv showed an adaptation effect regardless of congruency, while PIC, pCi and hPEc showed sensitivity to congruency. PIC exhibited a preference for congruent trials compared to incongruent trials. Areas pCi and hPEc exhibited an adaptation effect only for congruent and incongruent trials, respectively. PIC, pCi and hPEc sensitivity to the congruency relationship between visual (locomotion-compatible) cues and (leg-related) somatomotor inputs suggests that these regions are involved in multisensory integration processes, likely in order to guide/adjust leg movements during heading changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Di Marco
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.
| | - Valentina Sulpizio
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Bellagamba
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico'', Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Galati
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Markus Lappe
- Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | - Teresa Maltempo
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico'', Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico'', Rome, Italy
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18
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Kikkert S, Pfyffer D, Verling M, Freund P, Wenderoth N. Finger somatotopy is preserved after tetraplegia but deteriorates over time. eLife 2021; 10:e67713. [PMID: 34665133 PMCID: PMC8575460 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies showed reorganised and/or altered activity in the primary sensorimotor cortex after a spinal cord injury (SCI), suggested to reflect abnormal processing. However, little is known about whether somatotopically specific representations can be activated despite reduced or absent afferent hand inputs. In this observational study, we used functional MRI and a (attempted) finger movement task in tetraplegic patients to characterise the somatotopic hand layout in primary somatosensory cortex. We further used structural MRI to assess spared spinal tissue bridges. We found that somatotopic hand representations can be activated through attempted finger movements in the absence of sensory and motor hand functioning, and no spared spinal tissue bridges. Such preserved hand somatotopy could be exploited by rehabilitation approaches that aim to establish new hand-brain functional connections after SCI (e.g. neuroprosthetics). However, over years since SCI the hand representation somatotopy deteriorated, suggesting that somatotopic hand representations are more easily targeted within the first years after SCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne Kikkert
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH ZürichZürichSwitzerland
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of ZürichZürichSwitzerland
| | - Dario Pfyffer
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of ZürichZürichSwitzerland
| | - Michaela Verling
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH ZürichZürichSwitzerland
| | - Patrick Freund
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of ZürichZürichSwitzerland
- Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Nicole Wenderoth
- Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH ZürichZürichSwitzerland
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19
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Huang CW, Lin CH, Lin YH, Tsai HY, Tseng MT. Neural Basis of Somatosensory Spatial and Temporal Discrimination in Humans: The Role of Sensory Detection. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:1480-1493. [PMID: 34427294 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While detecting somatic stimuli from the external environment, an accurate determination of their spatial and temporal properties is essential for human behavior. Whether and how detection relates to human capacity for somatosensory spatial discrimination (SD) and temporal discrimination (TD) remains unclear. Here, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning when simply detecting vibrotactile stimuli of the leg, judging their location (SD), or deciding their number in time (TD). By conceptualizing tactile discrimination as consisting of detection and determination processes, we found that tactile detection elicited activation specifically involved in SD within the right inferior and superior parietal lobules, 2 regions previously implicated in the control of spatial attention. These 2 regions remained activated in the determination process, during which functional connectivity between these 2 regions predicted individual SD ability. In contrast, tactile detection produced little activation specifically related to TD. Participants' TD ability was implemented in brain regions implicated in coding temporal structures of somatic stimuli (primary somatosensory cortex) and time estimation (anterior cingulate, pre-supplementary motor area, and putamen). Together, our findings indicate a close link between somatosensory detection and SD (but not TD) at the neural level, which aids in explaining why we can promptly respond toward detected somatic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng-Wei Huang
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chin-Hsien Lin
- Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hsuan Lin
- Taiwan International Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Yun Tsai
- Taiwan International Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Tsung Tseng
- Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
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20
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Abstract
Perception of distance between two touches varies with orientation on the hand, with distances aligned with hand width perceived as larger than those aligned with hand length. Similar anisotropies are found on other body parts (e.g., the face), suggesting they may reflect a general feature of tactile organization, but appear absent on other body parts (e.g., the belly). Here, we investigated tactile-distance anisotropy on the foot, a body part structurally and embryologically similar to the hand, but with very different patterns of functional usage in humans. In three experiments, we compared the perceived distance between pairs of touches aligned with the medio-lateral and proximal-distal foot axes. On the hairy skin of the foot dorsum, anisotropy was consistently found, with distances aligned with the medio-lateral foot axis perceived as larger than those in the proximo-distal axis. In contrast, on the glabrous skin of the sole, inconsistent results were found across experiments, with no overall evidence for anisotropy. This shows a pattern of anisotropy on the foot broadly similar to that on the hand, adding to the list of body parts showing tactile-distance anisotropy, and providing further evidence that such biases are a general aspect of tactile spatial organization across the body. Significance: The perception of tactile distance has been widely used to understand the spatial structure of touch. On the hand, anisotropy of tactile distance perception is well established, with distances oriented across hand width perceived larger than those oriented along hand length. We investigated tactile-distance anisotropy on the feet, a body part structurally, genetically, and developmentally homologous to the hands, but with strikingly different patterns of functional usage. We report highly similar patterns of anisotropy on the hairy skin of the hand dorsum and foot dorsum. This suggests that anisotropy arises from the general organization of touch across the body.
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21
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Schellekens W, Thio M, Badde S, Winawer J, Ramsey N, Petridou N. A touch of hierarchy: population receptive fields reveal fingertip integration in Brodmann areas in human primary somatosensory cortex. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2099-2112. [PMID: 34091731 PMCID: PMC8354965 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02309-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Several neuroimaging studies have shown the somatotopy of body part representations in primary somatosensory cortex (S1), but the functional hierarchy of distinct subregions in human S1 has not been adequately addressed. The current study investigates the functional hierarchy of cyto-architectonically distinct regions, Brodmann areas BA3, BA1, and BA2, in human S1. During functional MRI experiments, we presented participants with vibrotactile stimulation of the fingertips at three different vibration frequencies. Using population Receptive Field (pRF) modeling of the fMRI BOLD activity, we identified the hand region in S1 and the somatotopy of the fingertips. For each voxel, the pRF center indicates the finger that most effectively drives the BOLD signal, and the pRF size measures the spatial somatic pooling of fingertips. We find a systematic relationship of pRF sizes from lower-order areas to higher-order areas. Specifically, we found that pRF sizes are smallest in BA3, increase slightly towards BA1, and are largest in BA2, paralleling the increase in visual receptive field size as one ascends the visual hierarchy. Additionally, we find that the time-to-peak of the hemodynamic response in BA3 is roughly 0.5 s earlier compared to BA1 and BA2, further supporting the notion of a functional hierarchy of subregions in S1. These results were obtained during stimulation of different mechanoreceptors, suggesting that different afferent fibers leading up to S1 feed into the same cortical hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Schellekens
- Department of Radiology, Center for Image Sciences, UMC Utrecht, Q101.132, P.O.Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - M Thio
- Department of Radiology, Center for Image Sciences, UMC Utrecht, Q101.132, P.O.Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - S Badde
- Department of Psychology and Center of Neural Science, NYU, New York, USA
| | - J Winawer
- Department of Psychology and Center of Neural Science, NYU, New York, USA
| | - N Ramsey
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - N Petridou
- Department of Radiology, Center for Image Sciences, UMC Utrecht, Q101.132, P.O.Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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22
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Sun F, Zhang G, Yu T, Zhang X, Wang X, Yan X, Qiao L, Ma K, Zhang X. Functional characteristics of the human primary somatosensory cortex: An electrostimulation study. Epilepsy Behav 2021; 118:107920. [PMID: 33770611 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The common knowledge of the functional organization of the human primary somatosensory cortex (S1) had been primarily established by Penfield who electrically stimulated the exposed surface [referred as Brodmann area (BA)1] of S1 under neurosurgical conditions. Nevertheless, the functional information regarding the deep surface (BA 2 and 3) of S1 is poorly understood. We retrospectively analyzed all the clinical manifestations induced by extra-operative cortical electrical stimulation (ES) in 33 patients with medically intractable epilepsy who underwent stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) monitoring for presurgical assessment. Demographic and clinical data were gathered and evaluated to delineate the determinants of the occurrence of positive responses, types of responses, and size of body regions involved. The stimulation of 244 sites in S1 yielded 198 positive sites (81.1%), most of which were located in the sulcal cortex. In multivariable analyses, no clinical or demographic factors predicted the occurrence of responses or their threshold levels. The size of body region involved in the responses had ordinal association with the stimulated BA sites (p < 0.001). Various types of responses elicited from the S1 were documented and classified, and the predictors of those responses were also assessed. Our analysis revealed the functional characteristics of the entire S1 and proved the multiplicity of functions of S1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengqiao Sun
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Guojun Zhang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China.
| | - Tao Yu
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Xiaohua Zhang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Xueyuan Wang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Xiaoming Yan
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Liang Qiao
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Kai Ma
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Xi Zhang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
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23
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Maltempo T, Pitzalis S, Bellagamba M, Di Marco S, Fattori P, Galati G, Galletti C, Sulpizio V. Lower visual field preference for the visuomotor control of limb movements in the human dorsomedial parietal cortex. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2989-3005. [PMID: 33738579 PMCID: PMC8541995 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02254-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Visual cues coming from the lower visual field (VF) play an important role in the visual guidance of upper and lower limb movements. A recently described region situated in the dorsomedial parietal cortex, area hPEc (Pitzalis et al. in NeuroImage 202:116092, 2019), might have a role in integrating visually derived information with somatomotor signals to guide limb interaction with the environment. In macaque, it has been demonstrated that PEc receives visual information mostly from the lower visual field but, to date, there has been no systematic investigation of VF preference in the newly defined human homologue of macaque area PEc (hPEc). Here we examined the VF preferences of hPEc while participants performed a visuomotor task implying spatially directed delayed eye-, hand- and foot-movements towards different spatial locations within the VF. By analyzing data as a function of the different target locations towards which upcoming movements were planned (and then executed), we observed the presence of asymmetry in the vertical dimension of VF in area hPEc, being this area more strongly activated by limb movements directed towards visual targets located in the lower compared to the upper VF. This result confirms the view, first advanced in macaque monkey, that PEc is involved in processing visual information to guide body interaction with the external environment, including locomotion. We also observed a contralateral dominance for the lower VF preference in the foot selective somatomotor cortex anterior to hPEc. This result might reflect the role of this cortex (which includes areas PE and S-I) in providing highly topographically organized signals, likely useful to achieve an appropriate foot posture during locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Maltempo
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Bellagamba
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Sara Di Marco
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Galati
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Valentina Sulpizio
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy. .,Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. .,Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
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24
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Dunker Ø, Lie MU, Nilsen KB. Can within-subject comparisons of thermal thresholds be used for diagnostic purposes? Clin Neurophysiol Pract 2021; 6:63-71. [PMID: 33665518 PMCID: PMC7905396 DOI: 10.1016/j.cnp.2021.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Normal limits for within-subject comparisons of thermal thresholds are wide. Our findings advocate for site-specific normal values of adequate resolution. The difference between distal and proximal thresholds increase drastically with age.
Objective Quantitative thermal testing (QTT) is a psychophysical assessment method of small nerve fibers that relies on reference material to assess function. Normal limits for within-subject comparisons of thermal thresholds are scarce, and their association with age, height and sex is not fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the normal limits for distal-proximal– and contralateral homologous comparisons of thermal thresholds with QTT, and their association with age, sex or height. Methods Fifty healthy volunteers ages 20–79 participated in the experiment. Cold detection thresholds (CDT), warm detection thresholds (WDT), heat pain thresholds (HPT), and cold pain thresholds (CPT) were measured bilaterally at the thenar eminence, anterior thigh, distal medial leg and foot dorsum. Sample normal limits were calculated as (mean) ± 2 SD. Results Forty-eight subjects were included in the analysis. CPT was excluded from all analyses due to a large floor-effect. Sample normal limits for side-differences ranged from 1.8 to 7.2 °C for CDT, 2.4–6.8 °C for WDT and 3.2–4.0 °C for HPT, depending on anatomical site. For distal-proximal comparisons, sample normal limits ranged from 4.0 to 8.7 °C for CDT, 6.0–14.0 °C for WDT and 4.2–9.0 °C for HPT, depending on the pairs compared. Age was associated with side-differences for CDT in the thenar eminences (p < 0.001) and distal medial legs (p < 0.002), and with 11 of 18 distal-proximal comparisons (p < 0.01). Conclusions The normal limits for distal-proximal- and contralateral homologous thermal thresholds were wide, and thus of limited use in a clinical setting, although the reported values may be somewhat inflated by low sample-size and consequent age-pooling. Age, but not sex or height, was associated with contralateral differences in CDT in the thenar eminences and distal medial legs, and with most distal-proximal differences. Significance Due to wide normal limits, we advise caution when utilizing relative comparisons of thermal thresholds for diagnostic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ø Dunker
- Research and Communication Unit for Musculoskeletal Health (FORMI), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - M U Lie
- Research and Communication Unit for Musculoskeletal Health (FORMI), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - K B Nilsen
- Research and Communication Unit for Musculoskeletal Health (FORMI), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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25
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Akselrod M, Martuzzi R, van der Zwaag W, Blanke O, Serino A. Relation between palm and finger cortical representations in primary somatosensory cortex: A 7T fMRI study. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2262-2277. [PMID: 33621380 PMCID: PMC8046155 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Many studies focused on the cortical representations of fingers, while the palm is relatively neglected despite its importance for hand function. Here, we investigated palm representation (PR) and its relationship with finger representations (FRs) in primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Few studies in humans suggested that PR is located medially with respect to FRs in S1, yet to date, no study directly quantified the somatotopic organization of PR and the five FRs. Importantly, the link between the somatotopic organization of PR and FRs and their activation properties remains largely unexplored. Using 7T fMRI, we mapped PR and the five FRs at the single subject level. First, we analyzed the cortical distance between PR and FRs to determine their somatotopic organization. Results show that PR was located medially with respect to D5. Second, we tested whether the observed cortical distances would predict the relationship between PR and FRs activations. Using three complementary measures (cross-activations, pattern similarity and resting-state connectivity), we show that the relationship between PR and FRs activations were not determined by their somatotopic organization, that is, there was no gradient moving from D5 to D1, except for resting-state connectivity, which was predicted by the somatotopy. Instead, we show that the representational geometry of PR and FRs activations reflected the physical structure of the hand. Collectively, our findings suggest that the spatial proximity between topographically organized neuronal populations do not necessarily predicts their functional properties, rather the structure of the sensory space (e.g., the hand shape) better describes the observed results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel Akselrod
- Laboratory MySpace, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute and Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.,Minded Program, CMON Unit, Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy
| | - Roberto Martuzzi
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute and Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.,Foundation Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute and Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Serino
- Laboratory MySpace, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute and Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
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26
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Sun F, Zhang G, Ren L, Yu T, Ren Z, Gao R, Zhang X. Functional organization of the human primary somatosensory cortex: A stereo-electroencephalography study. Clin Neurophysiol 2021; 132:487-497. [PMID: 33465535 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.11.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The classical homunculus of the human primary somatosensory cortex (S1) established by Penfield has mainly portrayed the functional organization of convexial cortex, namely Brodmann area (BA) 1. However, little is known about the functions in fissural cortex including BA2 and BA3. We aim at drawing a refined and detailed somatosensory homunculus of the entire S1. METHODS We recruited 20 patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy who underwent stereo-electroencephalography for preoperative assessments. Direct electrical stimulation was performed for functional mapping. Montreal Neurological Institute coordinates of the stimulation sites lying in S1 were acquired. RESULTS Stimulation of 177 sites in S1 yielded 149 positive sites (84%), most of which were located in the sulcal cortex. The spatial distribution of different body-part representations across the S1 surface revealed that the gross medial-to-lateral sequence of body representations within the entire S1 was consistent with the classical "homunculus". And we identified several unreported body-part representations from the sulcal cortex, such as forehead, deep elbow and wrist joints, and some dorsal body regions. CONCLUSIONS Our results reveal general somatotopical characteristics of the entire S1 cortex and differences with the previous works of Penfield. SIGNIFICANCE The classical S1 homunculus was extended by providing further refinement and additional detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengqiao Sun
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Guojun Zhang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China.
| | - Liankun Ren
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Tao Yu
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Zhiwei Ren
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Runshi Gao
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Xiaohua Zhang
- Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45, Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China
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27
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Willoughby WR, Thoenes K, Bolding M. Somatotopic Arrangement of the Human Primary Somatosensory Cortex Derived From Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Front Neurosci 2021; 14:598482. [PMID: 33488347 PMCID: PMC7817621 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.598482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to estimate neuronal activity in the primary somatosensory cortex of six participants undergoing cutaneous tactile stimulation on skin areas spread across the entire body. Differences between the accepted somatotopic maps derived from Penfield's work and those generated by this fMRI study were sought, including representational transpositions or replications across the cortex. MR-safe pneumatic devices mimicking the action of a Wartenberg wheel supplied touch stimuli in eight areas. Seven were on the left side of the body: foot, lower, and upper leg, trunk beneath ribcage, anterior forearm, middle fingertip, and neck above the collarbone. The eighth area was the glabella. Activation magnitude was estimated as the maximum cross-correlation coefficient at a certain phase shift between ideal time series and measured blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) time courses on the cortical surface. Maximally correlated clusters associated with each cutaneous area were calculated, and cortical magnification factors were estimated. Activity correlated to lower limb stimulation was observed in the paracentral lobule and superomedial postcentral region. Correlations to upper extremity stimulation were observed in the postcentral area adjacent to the motor hand knob. Activity correlated to trunk, face and neck stimulation was localized in the superomedial one-third of the postcentral region, which differed from Penfield's cortical homunculus.
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Affiliation(s)
- W. R. Willoughby
- Department of Radiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Kristina Thoenes
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Mark Bolding
- Department of Radiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
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28
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Wang L, Li C, Chen D, Lv X, Go R, Wu J, Yan T. Hemodynamic response varies across tactile stimuli with different temporal structures. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 42:587-597. [PMID: 33169898 PMCID: PMC7814760 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Tactile stimuli can be distinguished based on their temporal features (e.g., duration, local frequency, and number of pulses), which are fundamental for vibrotactile frequency perception. Characterizing how the hemodynamic response changes in shape across experimental conditions is important for designing and interpreting fMRI studies on tactile information processing. In this study, we focused on periodic tactile stimuli with different temporal structures and explored the hemodynamic response function (HRF) induced by these stimuli. We found that HRFs were stimulus‐dependent in tactile‐related brain areas. Continuous stimuli induced a greater area of activation and a stronger and narrower hemodynamic response than intermittent stimuli with the same duration. The magnitude of the HRF increased with increasing stimulus duration. By normalizing the characteristics into topographic matrix, nonlinearity was obvious. These results suggested that stimulation patterns and duration within a cycle may be key characters for distinguishing different stimuli. We conclude that different temporal structures of tactile stimuli induced different HRFs, which are essential for vibrotactile perception and should be considered in fMRI experimental designs and analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luyao Wang
- School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Chunlin Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Duanduan Chen
- School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyu Lv
- School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Ritsu Go
- School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Jinglong Wu
- School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
| | - Tianyi Yan
- School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
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29
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Dempsey-Jones H, Wesselink DB, Friedman J, Makin TR. Organized Toe Maps in Extreme Foot Users. Cell Rep 2020; 28:2748-2756.e4. [PMID: 31509738 PMCID: PMC6899508 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.08.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the fine-grained features of topographic maps in the somatosensory cortex can be shaped by everyday experience, it is unknown whether behavior can support the expression of somatotopic maps where they do not typically occur. Unlike the fingers, represented in all primates, individuated toe maps have only been found in non-human primates. Using 1-mm resolution fMRI, we identify organized toe maps in two individuals born without either upper limb who use their feet to substitute missing hand function and even support their profession as foot artists. We demonstrate that the ordering and structure of the artists’ toe representation mimics typical hand representation. We further reveal “hand-like” features of activity patterns, not only in the foot area but also similarly in the missing hand area. We suggest humans may have an innate capacity for forming additional topographic maps that can be expressed with appropriate experience. We ask if extreme behavior can cause the (re)emergence of somatotopic maps We investigated two foot artists, born without arms 7T fMRI shows individuated maps of up to 5 toes in the artists but not controls Activity in artists’ foot and hand areas was more “hand-like” than in controls
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daan B Wesselink
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
| | - Jason Friedman
- Physical Therapy Department, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 699 7801, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 699 7801, Israel
| | - Tamar R Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK
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30
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Kuehn E, Pleger B. Encoding schemes in somatosensation: From micro- to meta-topography. Neuroimage 2020; 223:117255. [PMID: 32800990 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Encoding schemes are systematic large-scale arrangements that convert incoming sensory information into a format required for further information processing. The increased spatial resolution of brain images obtained with ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T (7T-MRI) and above increases the granularity and precision of processing units that mediate the link between neuronal encoding and functional readouts. Here, these new developments are reviewed with a focus on human tactile encoding schemes derived from small-scale processing units (in the order of 0.5-5 mm) that are relevant for theoretical and practical concepts of somatosensory encoding and cortical plasticity. Precisely, we review recent approaches to characterize meso-scale maps, layer units, and cortical fields in the sensorimotor cortex of the living human brain and discuss their impact on theories of perception, motor control, topographic encoding, and cortical plasticity. Finally, we discuss concepts on the integration of small-scale processing units into functional networks that span multiple topographic maps and multiple cortical areas. Novel research areas are highlighted that may help to bridge the gap between cortical microstructure and meta-topographic models on brain anatomy and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Kuehn
- Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND), Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, 39120, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS) Magdeburg, Magdeburg 39120, Germany.
| | - Burkhard Pleger
- Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum 44789, Germany
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31
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Case LK, Liljencrantz J, McCall MV, Bradson M, Necaise A, Tubbs J, Olausson H, Wang B, Bushnell MC. Pleasant Deep Pressure: Expanding the Social Touch Hypothesis. Neuroscience 2020; 464:3-11. [PMID: 32768616 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Neuroscientific research on pleasant touch has focused on the C-tactile pathway for gentle stroking and has successfully explained how these sensory fibers transmit information about affective social touch to the brain and induce sensations of pleasantness. The C-tactile social/affective touch hypothesis even proposes that C-tactile fibers form a privileged pathway underlying social touch. However, deep pressure is a type of touch commonly considered pleasant and calming, occurring in hugs, cuddling, and massage. In this paper we introduce a paradigm for studying pleasant deep pressure and propose that it constitutes another important form of social touch. We describe development of the oscillating compression sleeve (OCS) as one approach to administering deep pressure and demonstrate that this touch is perceived as pleasant and calming. Further, we show that deep pressure can be imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the air-pressure-driven OCS and that deep pressure activates brain regions highly similar to those that respond to C-tactile stroking, as well as regions not activated by stroking. We propose that deep pressure constitutes another social touch pathway of evolutionary importance signaling the close proximity of conspecifics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura K Case
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States; Department of Anesthesiology, UC San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, United States.
| | - Jaquette Liljencrantz
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Micaela V McCall
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Megan Bradson
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Aaron Necaise
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Justin Tubbs
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Håkan Olausson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Binquan Wang
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - M Catherine Bushnell
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
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32
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A probabilistic atlas of finger dominance in the primary somatosensory cortex. Neuroimage 2020; 217:116880. [PMID: 32376303 PMCID: PMC7339146 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
With the advent of ultra-high field (7T), high spatial resolution functional MRI (fMRI) has allowed the differentiation of the cortical representations of each of the digits at an individual-subject level in human primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Here we generate a probabilistic atlas of the contralateral SI representations of the digits of both the left and right hand in a group of 22 right-handed individuals. The atlas is generated in both volume and surface standardised spaces from somatotopic maps obtained by delivering vibrotactile stimulation to each distal phalangeal digit using a travelling wave paradigm. Metrics quantify the likelihood of a given position being assigned to a digit (full probability map) and the most probable digit for a given spatial location (maximum probability map). The atlas is validated using a leave-one-out cross validation procedure. Anatomical variance across the somatotopic map is also assessed to investigate whether the functional variability across subjects is coupled to structural differences. This probabilistic atlas quantifies the variability in digit representations in healthy subjects, finding some quantifiable separability between digits 2, 3 and 4, a complex overlapping relationship between digits 1 and 2, and little agreement of digit 5 across subjects. The atlas and constituent subject maps are available online for use as a reference in future neuroimaging studies.
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33
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Knight FLC, Bremner AJ, Cowie D. Does the language we use to segment the body, shape the way we perceive it? A study of tactile perceptual distortions. Cognition 2020; 197:104127. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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34
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Wang Y, Sibaii F, Custead R, Oh H, Barlow SM. Functional Connectivity Evoked by Orofacial Tactile Perception of Velocity. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:182. [PMID: 32210753 PMCID: PMC7068713 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The cortical representations of orofacial pneumotactile stimulation involve complex neuronal networks, which are still unknown. This study aims to identify the characteristics of functional connectivity (FC) evoked by three different saltatory velocities over the perioral and buccal surface of the lower face using functional magnetic resonance imaging in twenty neurotypical adults. Our results showed a velocity of 25 cm/s evoked stronger connection strength between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right thalamus than a velocity of 5 cm/s. The decreased FC between the right secondary somatosensory cortex and right posterior parietal cortex for 5-cm/s velocity versus all three velocities delivered simultaneously (“All ON”) and the increased FC between the right thalamus and bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex for 65 cm/s vs “All ON” indicated that the right secondary somatosensory cortex might play a role in the orofacial tactile perception of velocity. Our results have also shown different patterns of FC for each seed (bilateral primary and secondary somatosensory cortex) at various velocity contrasts (5 vs 25 cm/s, 5 vs 65 cm/s, and 25 vs 65 cm/s). The similarities and differences of FC among three velocities shed light on the neuronal networks encoding the orofacial tactile perception of velocity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Wang
- Neuroimaging for Language, Literacy and Learning Laboratory, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and schools, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Biomedical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Fatima Sibaii
- Neuroimaging for Language, Literacy and Learning Laboratory, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Biomedical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Rebecca Custead
- Communication Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Hyuntaek Oh
- Biomedical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Communication Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Steven M Barlow
- Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Biomedical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.,Communication Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
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Stone KD, Kornblad CAE, Engel MM, Dijkerman HC, Blom RM, Keizer A. An Investigation of Lower Limb Representations Underlying Vision, Touch, and Proprioception in Body Integrity Identity Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:15. [PMID: 32161554 PMCID: PMC7052367 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) have a (non-psychotic) longstanding desire to amputate or paralyze one or more fully-functioning limbs, often the legs. This desire presumably arises from experiencing a mismatch between one's perceived mental image of the body and the physical structural and/or functional boundaries of the body itself. While neuroimaging studies suggest a disturbed body representation network in individuals with BIID, few behavioral studies have looked at the manifestation of this disrupted lower limb representations in this population. Specifically, people with BIID feel like they are overcomplete in their current body. Perhaps sensory input, processed normally on and about the limb, cannot communicate with a higher-order model of the leg in the brain (which might be underdeveloped). We asked individuals who desire paralysis or amputation of the lower legs (and a group of age- and sex-matched controls) to make explicit and implicit judgments about the size and shape of their legs while relying on vision, touch, and proprioception. We hypothesized that BIID participants would mis-estimate the size of their affected leg(s) more than the same leg of controls. Using a multiple single-case analysis, we found no global differences in lower limb representations between BIID participants and controls. Thus, while people with BIID feel that part of the body is foreign, they can still make normal sensory-guided implicit and explicit judgments about the limb. Moreover, these results suggest that BIID is not a body image disorder, per se, and that an examination of leg representation does not uncover the disturbed bodily experience that individuals with BIID have.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla D. Stone
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Clara A. E. Kornblad
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Manja M. Engel
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - H. Chris Dijkerman
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Rianne M. Blom
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anouk Keizer
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Single subject and group whole-brain fMRI mapping of male genital sensation at 7 Tesla. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2487. [PMID: 32051426 PMCID: PMC7015912 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58966-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Processing of genital sensations in the central nervous system of humans is still poorly understood. Current knowledge is mainly based on neuroimaging studies using electroencephalography (EEG), magneto-encephalography (MEG), and 1.5- or 3- Tesla (T) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), all of which suffer from limited spatial resolution and sensitivity, thereby relying on group analyses to reveal significant data. Here, we studied the impact of passive, yet non-arousing, tactile stimulation of the penile shaft using ultra-high field 7T fMRI. With this approach, penile stimulation evoked significant activations in distinct areas of the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices (S1 & S2), premotor cortex, insula, midcingulate gyrus, prefrontal cortex, thalamus and cerebellum, both at single subject and group level. Passive tactile stimulation of the feet, studied for control, also evoked significant activation in S1, S2, insula, thalamus and cerebellum, but predominantly, yet not exclusively, in areas that could be segregated from those associated with penile stimulation. Evaluation of the whole-brain activation patterns and connectivity analyses indicate that genital sensations following passive stimulation are, unlike those following feet stimulation, processed in both sensorimotor and affective regions.
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Whole-body somatotopic maps in the cerebellum revealed with 7T fMRI. Neuroimage 2020; 211:116624. [PMID: 32058002 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum is known to contain a double somatotopic body representation. While the anterior lobe body map has shown a robust somatotopic organization in previous fMRI studies, the representations in the posterior lobe have been more difficult to observe and are less precisely characterized. In this study, participants went through a simple motor task asking them to move either the eyes (left-right guided saccades), tongue (left-right movement), thumbs, little fingers or toes (flexion). Using high spatial resolution fMRI data acquired at ultra-high field (7T), with special care taken to obtain sufficient B1 over the entire cerebellum and a cerebellar surface reconstruction facilitating visual inspection of the results, we were able to precisely map the somatotopic representations of these five distal body parts on both subject- and group-specific cerebellar surfaces. The anterior lobe (including lobule VI) showed a consistent and robust somatotopic gradient. Although less robust, the presence of such a gradient in the posterior lobe, from Crus II to lobule VIIIb, was also observed. Additionally, the eyes were also strongly represented in Crus I and the oculomotor vermis. Overall, crosstalk between the different body part representations was negligible. Taken together, these results show that multiple representations of distal body parts are present in the cerebellum, across many lobules, and they are organized in an orderly manner.
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38
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Awad A, Levi R, Waller M, Westling G, Lindgren L, Eriksson J. Preserved somatosensory conduction in complete spinal cord injury: Discomplete SCI. Clin Neurophysiol 2020; 131:1059-1067. [PMID: 32197128 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 12/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts the communication between brain and body parts innervated from below-injury spinal segments, but rarely results in complete anatomical transection of the spinal cord. The aim of this study was to investigate residual somatosensory conduction in clinically complete SCI, to corroborate the concept of sensory discomplete SCI. METHODS We used fMRI with a somatosensory protocol in which blinded and randomized tactile and nociceptive stimulation was applied on both legs (below-injury level) and one arm (above-injury level) in eleven participants with chronic complete SCI. The experimental design accounts for possible confounding mechanical (e.g. vibration) and cortico-cortical top-down mechanisms (e.g. attention/expectation). RESULTS Somatosensory stimulation on below-level insensate body regions activated the somatotopically corresponding part of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex in six out of eleven participants. CONCLUSIONS Our results represent afferent-driven cortical activation through preserved somatosensory connections to the brain in a subgroup of participants with clinically complete SCI, i.e. sensory discomplete SCI. SIGNIFICANCE Identifying patients with residual somatosensory connections might open the door for new rehabilitative and restorative strategies as well as inform research on SCI-related conditions such as neuropathic pain and spasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amar Awad
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology (IMB), Physiology Section, Umeå University, Sweden.
| | - Richard Levi
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in Linköping, Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Mikael Waller
- Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic, Sunderby Hospital, Region Norrbotten, Sweden.
| | - Göran Westling
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology (IMB), Physiology Section, Umeå University, Sweden.
| | - Lenita Lindgren
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Nursing, Umeå University, Sweden.
| | - Johan Eriksson
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology (IMB), Physiology Section, Umeå University, Sweden.
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Kaas A, Goebel R, Valente G, Sorger B. Topographic Somatosensory Imagery for Real-Time fMRI Brain-Computer Interfacing. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:427. [PMID: 31920588 PMCID: PMC6915074 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a promising non-invasive method for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). BCIs translate brain activity into signals that allow communication with the outside world. Visual and motor imagery are often used as information-encoding strategies, but can be challenging if not grounded in recent experience in these modalities, e.g., in patients with locked-in-syndrome (LIS). In contrast, somatosensory imagery might constitute a more suitable information-encoding strategy as the somatosensory function is often very robust. Somatosensory imagery has been shown to activate the somatotopic cortex, but it has been unclear so far whether it can be reliably detected on a single-trial level and successfully classified according to specific somatosensory imagery content. Using ultra-high field 7-T fMRI, we show reliable and high-accuracy single-trial decoding of left-foot (LF) vs. right-hand (RH) somatosensory imagery. Correspondingly, higher decoding accuracies were associated with greater spatial separation of hand and foot decoding-weight patterns in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Exploiting these novel neuroscientific insights, we developed-and provide a proof of concept for-basic BCI communication by showing that binary (yes/no) answers encoded by somatosensory imagery can be decoded with high accuracy in simulated real-time (in 7 subjects) as well as in real-time (1 subject). This study demonstrates that body part-specific somatosensory imagery differentially activates somatosensory cortex in a topographically specific manner; evidence which was surprisingly still lacking in the literature. It also offers proof of concept for a novel somatosensory imagery-based fMRI-BCI control strategy, with particularly high potential for visually and motor-impaired patients. The strategy could also be transferred to lower MRI field strengths and to mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Finally, given that communication BCIs provide the BCI user with a form of feedback based on their brain signals and can thus be considered as a specific form of neurofeedback, and that repeated use of a BCI has been shown to enhance underlying representations, we expect that the current BCI could also offer an interesting new approach for somatosensory rehabilitation training in the context of stroke and phantom limb pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Kaas
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Giancarlo Valente
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Bettina Sorger
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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40
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Pitzalis S, Serra C, Sulpizio V, Di Marco S, Fattori P, Galati G, Galletti C. A putative human homologue of the macaque area PEc. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116092. [PMID: 31408715 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The cortical area PEc is anatomically and functionally well-defined in macaque, but it is unknown whether it has a counterpart in human. Since we know that macaque PEc, but not the nearby posterior regions, hosts a lower limb representation, in an attempt to recognize a possible human PEc we looked for the existence of leg representations in the human parietal cortex using individual cortical surface-based analysis, task-evoked paradigms and resting-state functional connectivity. fMRI images were acquired while thirty-one participants performed long-range leg movements through an in-house MRI-compatible set-up. We revealed the existence of multiple leg representations in the human dorsomedial parietal cortex, here defined as S-I (somatosensory-I), hPE (human PE, in the postcentral sulcus), and hPEc (human PEc, in the anterior precuneus). Among the three "leg" regions, hPEc had a unique functional profile, in that it was the only one responding to both arm and leg movements, to both hand-pointing and foot pointing movements, and to flow field visual stimulation, very similar to macaque area PEc. In addition, hPEc showed functional connections with the somatomotor regions hosting a lower limb representation, again as in macaque area PEc. Therefore, based on similarity in brain position, functional organization, cortical connections, and relationship with the neighboring areas, we propose that this cortical region is the human homologue of macaque area PEc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico", 00135, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), 00142, Rome, Italy.
| | - Chiara Serra
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico", 00135, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), 00142, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Sulpizio
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), 00142, Rome, Italy; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sara Di Marco
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico", 00135, Rome, Italy; Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), 00142, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Galati
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), 00142, Rome, Italy; Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
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Manser-Smith K, Tamè L, Longo MR. A common representation of fingers and toes. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 199:102900. [PMID: 31400650 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There are many similarities and differences between the human hands and feet. On a psychological level, there is some evidence from clinical disorders and studies of tactile localisation in healthy adults for deep functional connections between the hands and feet. One form these connections may take is in common high-level mental representations of the hands and feet. Previous studies have shown that there are systematic, but distinct patterns of confusion found between both the fingers and toes. Further, there are clear individual differences between people in the exact patterns of mislocalisations. Here, we investigated whether these idiosyncratic differences in tactile localisation are shared between the fingers and toes, which may indicate a shared high-level representation. We obtained confusion matrices showing the pattern of mislocalisation on the hairy skin surfaces of both the fingers and toes. Using a decoding approach, we show that idiosyncratic differences in individuals' pattern of confusions are shared across the fingers and toes, despite different overall patterns of confusions. These results suggest that there is a common representation of the fingers and toes.
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42
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Chan AWY, Bilger E, Griffin S, Elkis V, Weeks S, Hussey-Anderson L, Pasquina PF, Tsao JW, Baker CI. Visual responsiveness in sensorimotor cortex is increased following amputation and reduced after mirror therapy. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 23:101882. [PMID: 31226622 PMCID: PMC6587025 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Phantom limb pain (PLP) following amputation, which is experienced by the vast majority of amputees, has been reported to be relieved with daily sessions of mirror therapy. During each session, a mirror is used to view the reflected image of the intact limb moving, providing visual feedback consistent with the movement of the missing/phantom limb. To investigate potential neural correlates of the treatment effect, we measured brain responses in volunteers with unilateral leg amputation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a four-week course of mirror therapy. Mirror therapy commenced immediately following baseline scans, which were repeated after approximately two and four week intervals. We focused on responses in the region of sensorimotor cortex corresponding to primary somatosensory and motor representations of the missing leg. At baseline, prior to starting therapy, we found a strong and unexpected response in sensorimotor cortex of amputees to visually presented images of limbs. This response was stronger for images of feet compared to hands and there was no such response in matched controls. Further, this response to visually presented limbs was no longer present at the end of the four week mirror therapy treatment, when perceived phantom limb pain was also reduced. A similar pattern of results was also observed in extrastriate and parietal regions typically responsive to viewing hand actions, but not in regions corresponding to secondary somatosensory cortex. Finally, there was a significant correlation between initial visual responsiveness in sensorimotor cortex and reduction in PLP suggesting a potential marker for predicting efficacy of mirror therapy. Thus, enhanced visual responsiveness in sensorimotor cortex is associated with PLP and modulated over the course of mirror therapy. Visual responsiveness to the sight of limbs in sensorimotor cortex of leg amputees but not matched controls Consistent with prior studies, mirror therapy over 4 weeks reduced phantom limb pain Visual responsiveness in sensorimotor cortex of amputees diminished following mirror therapy Visual responsiveness in sensorimotor cortex might be useful in predicting the potential efficacy of mirror therapy
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie W-Y Chan
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Life Sciences, Division of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Brunel University London, UK; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Radiology, Memphis, TN, USA.
| | - Emily Bilger
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; George Washington University Hospital, USA
| | - Sarah Griffin
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Viktoria Elkis
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sharon Weeks
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Paul F Pasquina
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jack W Tsao
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Neurology, Memphis, TN, USA; Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Chris I Baker
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Gorst T, Freeman J, Yarrow K, Marsden J. Assessing Plantar Sensation in the Foot Using the Foot Roughness Discrimination Test (FoRDT): A Reliability and Validity Study in Stroke. PM R 2019; 11:1083-1092. [PMID: 30690894 DOI: 10.1002/pmrj.12085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The plantar foot represents a sensory dynamometric map and is essential for balance and gait control. Sensory impairments are common, yet often difficult to quantify in neurological conditions, particularly stroke. A functionally oriented and quantifiable assessment, the Foot Roughness Discrimination Test (FoRDT), was developed to address these shortcomings. OBJECTIVE To evaluate inter- and intrarater reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the FoRDT. DESIGN Test-retest design. SETTING Hospital outpatient. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-two people with stroke (mean age 70 years) at least 3 months after stroke, and 32 healthy, age-matched controls (mean age 70). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Roughness discrimination thresholds were quantified utilizing acrylic foot plates, laser cut to produce graded spatial gratings. Stroke participants were tested on three occasions, and by two different raters. Inter- and intrarater reliability and agreement were evaluated with Intraclass Correlation Coefficients and Bland-Altman plots. Convergent validity was evaluated through Spearman rank correlation coefficients (rho) between the FoRDT and the Erasmus modified Nottingham Sensory Assessment (EmNSA). RESULTS Intra- and interrater reliability and agreement were excellent (ICC =0.86 [95% CI 0.72-0.92] and 0.90 [95% CI 0.76-0.96]). Discriminant validity was demonstrated through significant differences in FoRDT between stroke and control participants (P < .001). Stroke fallers had statistically significant higher FoRDT scores compared with nonfallers (P = .01). Convergent validity was demonstrated through significant and strong correlations (rho) with the Erasmus MC Nottingham Sensory Assessment (r = .69, P < .01). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis indicated the novel test to have excellent sensitivity and specificity in predicting the presence of self-reported sensory impairments. Functional Reach test significantly correlated with FoRDT (r = .62, P < .01) whereas measures of postural sway and gait speed did not (r = .16-.26, P > .05). CONCLUSIONS This simple and functionally oriented test of plantar sensation is reliable, valid, and clinically feasible for use in an ambulatory, chronic stroke and older population. It offers clinicians and researchers a sensitive and robust sensory measure and may further support the evaluation of rehabilitation targeting foot sensation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terry Gorst
- School of Health Professions, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Jenny Freeman
- School of Health Professions, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Kielan Yarrow
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
| | - Jonathan Marsden
- School of Health Professions, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
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Serra C, Galletti C, Di Marco S, Fattori P, Galati G, Sulpizio V, Pitzalis S. Egomotion-related visual areas respond to active leg movements. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:3174-3191. [PMID: 30924264 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Revised: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Monkey neurophysiology and human neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that passive viewing of optic flow stimuli activates a cortical network of temporal, parietal, insular, and cingulate visual motion regions. Here, we tested whether the human visual motion areas involved in processing optic flow signals simulating self-motion are also activated by active lower limb movements, and hence are likely involved in guiding human locomotion. To this aim, we used a combined approach of task-evoked activity and resting-state functional connectivity by fMRI. We localized a set of six egomotion-responsive visual areas (V6+, V3A, intraparietal motion/ventral intraparietal [IPSmot/VIP], cingulate sulcus visual area [CSv], posterior cingulate sulcus area [pCi], posterior insular cortex [PIC]) by using optic flow. We tested their response to a motor task implying long-range active leg movements. Results revealed that, among these visually defined areas, CSv, pCi, and PIC responded to leg movements (visuomotor areas), while V6+, V3A, and IPSmot/VIP did not (visual areas). Functional connectivity analysis showed that visuomotor areas are connected to the cingulate motor areas, the supplementary motor area, and notably to the medial portion of the somatosensory cortex, which represents legs and feet. We suggest that CSv, pCi, and PIC perform the visual analysis of egomotion-like signals to provide sensory information to the motor system with the aim of guiding locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Serra
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sara Di Marco
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Galati
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.,Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Sulpizio
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.,Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
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Verriotis M, Jones L, Whitehead K, Laudiano-Dray M, Panayotidis I, Patel H, Meek J, Fabrizi L, Fitzgerald M. The distribution of pain activity across the human neonatal brain is sex dependent. Neuroimage 2018; 178:69-77. [PMID: 29763673 PMCID: PMC6062722 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 05/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In adults, there are differences between male and female structural and functional brain connectivity, specifically for those regions involved in pain processing. This may partly explain the observed sex differences in pain sensitivity, tolerance, and inhibitory control, and in the development of chronic pain. However, it is not known if these differences exist from birth. Cortical activity in response to a painful stimulus can be observed in the human neonatal brain, but this nociceptive activity continues to develop in the postnatal period and is qualitatively different from that of adults, partly due to the considerable cortical maturation during this time. This research aimed to investigate the effects of sex and prematurity on the magnitude and spatial distribution pattern of the long-latency nociceptive event-related potential (nERP) using electroencephalography (EEG). We measured the cortical response time-locked to a clinically required heel lance in 81 neonates born between 29 and 42 weeks gestational age (median postnatal age 4 days). The results show that heel lance results in a spatially widespread nERP response in the majority of newborns. Importantly, a widespread pattern is significantly more likely to occur in females, irrespective of gestational age at birth. This effect is not observed for the short latency somatosensory waveform in the same infants, indicating that it is selective for the nociceptive component of the response. These results suggest the early onset of a greater anatomical and functional connectivity reported in the adult female brain, and indicate the presence of pain-related sex differences from birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Verriotis
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Jones
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Kimberley Whitehead
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Laudiano-Dray
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Ismini Panayotidis
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Hemani Patel
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Judith Meek
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Obstetric Wing, University College London Hospitals, London, WC1E6DB, United Kingdom
| | - Lorenzo Fabrizi
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Fitzgerald
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom.
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46
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Stone KD, Bullock F, Keizer A, Dijkerman HC. The disappearing limb trick and the role of sensory suggestibility in illusion experience. Neuropsychologia 2018; 117:418-427. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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47
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Sanchez Panchuelo RM, Besle J, Schluppeck D, Humberstone M, Francis S. Somatotopy in the Human Somatosensory System. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:235. [PMID: 29950980 PMCID: PMC6008546 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated digit somatotopy in primary somatosensory cortex (SI), and even shown that at high spatial resolution it is possible to resolve within-digit somatotopy. However, fMRI studies have failed to resolve the spatial organisation of digit representations in secondary somatosensory cortex (SII). One of the major limitations of high spatial resolution fMRI studies of the somatosensory system has been the long acquisition time needed to acquire slices spanning both SI and SII. Here, we exploit the increased blood oxygenation level dependent contrast of ultra-high-field (7 Tesla) fMRI and the use of multiband imaging to study the topographic organisation in SI and SII with high spatial resolution at the individual subject level. A total of n = 6 subjects underwent vibrotactile stimulation of their face, hand digits and foot (body imaging) and their individual hand digits (digit mapping) for each left and right sides of the body. In addition, n = 2 subjects participated only in the body imaging experiment on both their left and right sides. We show an orderly representation of the face, hand digits and foot in contralateral primary cortex in each individual subject. In SII, there is clear separation of the body areas of the face, hand and foot but the spatial organisation varies across individual subjects. However, separate representation of the individual digits of the hand in SII could not be resolved, even at the spatial resolution of 1.5 mm due to largely overlapping representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa M Sanchez Panchuelo
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Julien Besle
- Department of Psychology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Denis Schluppeck
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Miles Humberstone
- Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Susan Francis
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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48
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Serino A, Akselrod M, Salomon R, Martuzzi R, Blefari ML, Canzoneri E, Rognini G, van der Zwaag W, Iakova M, Luthi F, Amoresano A, Kuiken T, Blanke O. Upper limb cortical maps in amputees with targeted muscle and sensory reinnervation. Brain 2017; 140:2993-3011. [PMID: 29088353 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awx242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroprosthetics research in amputee patients aims at developing new prostheses that move and feel like real limbs. Targeted muscle and sensory reinnervation (TMSR) is such an approach and consists of rerouting motor and sensory nerves from the residual limb towards intact muscles and skin regions. Movement of the myoelectric prosthesis is enabled via decoded electromyography activity from reinnervated muscles and touch sensation on the missing limb is enabled by stimulation of the reinnervated skin areas. Here we ask whether and how motor control and redirected somatosensory stimulation provided via TMSR affected the maps of the upper limb in primary motor (M1) and primary somatosensory (S1) cortex, as well as their functional connections. To this aim, we tested three TMSR patients and investigated the extent, strength, and topographical organization of the missing limb and several control body regions in M1 and S1 at ultra high-field (7 T) functional magnetic resonance imaging. Additionally, we analysed the functional connectivity between M1 and S1 and of both these regions with fronto-parietal regions, known to be important for multisensory upper limb processing. These data were compared with those of control amputee patients (n = 6) and healthy controls (n = 12). We found that M1 maps of the amputated limb in TMSR patients were similar in terms of extent, strength, and topography to healthy controls and different from non-TMSR patients. S1 maps of TMSR patients were also more similar to normal conditions in terms of topographical organization and extent, as compared to non-targeted muscle and sensory reinnervation patients, but weaker in activation strength compared to healthy controls. Functional connectivity in TMSR patients between upper limb maps in M1 and S1 was comparable with healthy controls, while being reduced in non-TMSR patients. However, connectivity was reduced between S1 and fronto-parietal regions, in both the TMSR and non-TMSR patients with respect to healthy controls. This was associated with the absence of a well-established multisensory effect (visual enhancement of touch) in TMSR patients. Collectively, these results show how M1 and S1 process signals related to movement and touch are enabled by targeted muscle and sensory reinnervation. Moreover, they suggest that TMSR may counteract maladaptive cortical plasticity typically found after limb loss, in M1, partially in S1, and in their mutual connectivity. The lack of multisensory interaction in the present data suggests that further engineering advances are necessary (e.g. the integration of somatosensory feedback into current prostheses) to enable prostheses that move and feel as real limbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Serino
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland
| | - Michel Akselrod
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland
| | - Roy Salomon
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Roberto Martuzzi
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Maria Laura Blefari
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Elisa Canzoneri
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Giulio Rognini
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Wietske van der Zwaag
- Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.,Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Iakova
- Département de l'appareil locomoteur, Clinique Romande de Réadaptation SUVA Care, Sion, Switzerland
| | - François Luthi
- Département de l'appareil locomoteur, Clinique Romande de Réadaptation SUVA Care, Sion, Switzerland
| | | | - Todd Kuiken
- Center for Bionic Medicine, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), chemin des mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
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