1. Neuroscience

Mapping quantal touch using 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging and single-unit intraneural microstimulation

  1. Rosa Maria Sanchez Panchuelo  Is a corresponding author
  2. Rochelle Ackerley
  3. Paul M Glover
  4. Richard W Bowtell
  5. Johan Wessberg
  6. Susan T Francis
  7. Francis McGlone
  1. University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
  2. University of Gothenburg, Sweden
  3. Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12812
Share this article
Cite this article
  1. Rosa Maria Sanchez Panchuelo
  2. Rochelle Ackerley
  3. Paul M Glover
  4. Richard W Bowtell
  5. Johan Wessberg
  6. Susan T Francis
  7. Francis McGlone
(2016)
Mapping quantal touch using 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging and single-unit intraneural microstimulation
eLife 5:e12812.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12812
  2. Download BibTeX
  3. Download .RIS

Abstract

Using ultra-high field 7 Tesla (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we map the cortical and perceptual responses elicited by intraneural microstimulation (INMS) of single mechanoreceptive afferent units in the median nerve, in humans. Activations are compared to those produced by applying vibrotactile stimulation to the unit's receptive field, and unit-type perceptual reports are analyzed. We show that INMS and vibrotactile stimulation engage overlapping areas within the topographically appropriate digit representation in the primary somatosensory cortex. Additional brain regions in bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, insula and posterior parietal cortex, as well as in contralateral prefrontal cortex are also shown to be activated in response to INMS. The combination of INMS and 7T fMRI opens up an unprecedented opportunity to bridge the gap between first-order mechanoreceptive afferent input codes and their spatial, dynamic and perceptual representations in human cortex.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Rosa Maria Sanchez Panchuelo

    Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    rosa.panchuelo@nottingham.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Rochelle Ackerley

    Department of Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Paul M Glover

    Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Richard W Bowtell

    Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Johan Wessberg

    Department of Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Susan T Francis

    Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Francis McGlone

    School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Ethics

Human subjects: This work was approved by the University of Nottingham Medical School Ethics Committee. All participants gave full, written, informed consent.

Copyright

© 2016, Sanchez Panchuelo et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 1,339
    views
  • 352
    downloads
  • 33
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Rosa Maria Sanchez Panchuelo
  2. Rochelle Ackerley
  3. Paul M Glover
  4. Richard W Bowtell
  5. Johan Wessberg
  6. Susan T Francis
  7. Francis McGlone
(2016)
Mapping quantal touch using 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging and single-unit intraneural microstimulation
eLife 5:e12812.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12812

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12812

Categories and tags

Research organism

Further reading

    1. Neuroscience

    Parabrachial CGRP neurons modulate active defensive behavior under a naturalistic threat

    Gyeong Hee Pyeon, Hyewon Cho ... Yong Sang Jo
    Research Article Updated

    Recent studies suggest that calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) neurons in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) represent aversive information and signal a general alarm to the forebrain. If CGRP neurons serve as a true general alarm, their activation would modulate both passive nad active defensive behaviors depending on the magnitude and context of the threat. However, most prior research has focused on the role of CGRP neurons in passive freezing responses, with limited exploration of their involvement in active defensive behaviors. To address this, we examined the role of CGRP neurons in active defensive behavior using a predator-like robot programmed to chase mice. Our electrophysiological results revealed that CGRP neurons encode the intensity of aversive stimuli through variations in firing durations and amplitudes. Optogenetic activation of CGRP neurons during robot chasing elevated flight responses in both conditioning and retention tests, presumably by amplifying the perception of the threat as more imminent and dangerous. In contrast, animals with inactivated CGRP neurons exhibited reduced flight responses, even when the robot was programmed to appear highly threatening during conditioning. These findings expand the understanding of CGRP neurons in the PBN as a critical alarm system, capable of dynamically regulating active defensive behaviors by amplifying threat perception, and ensuring adaptive responses to varying levels of danger.

    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Vision: The inner workings of a miniature eye

    Gregor Belušič
    Insight

    The first complete 3D reconstruction of the compound eye of a minute wasp species sheds light on the nuts and bolts of size reduction.

    1. Neuroscience

    Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion

    Li Shen, Shuo Li ... Yi Jiang
    Research Article

    When observing others’ behaviors, we continuously integrate their movements with the corresponding sounds to enhance perception and develop adaptive responses. However, how the human brain integrates these complex audiovisual cues based on their natural temporal correspondence remains unclear. Using electroencephalogram (EEG), we demonstrated that rhythmic cortical activity tracked the hierarchical rhythmic structures in audiovisually congruent human walking movements and footstep sounds. Remarkably, the cortical tracking effects exhibit distinct multisensory integration modes at two temporal scales: an additive mode in a lower-order, narrower temporal integration window (step cycle) and a super-additive enhancement in a higher-order, broader temporal window (gait cycle). Furthermore, while neural responses at the lower-order timescale reflect a domain-general audiovisual integration process, cortical tracking at the higher-order timescale is exclusively engaged in the integration of biological motion cues. In addition, only this higher-order, domain-specific cortical tracking effect correlates with individuals’ autistic traits, highlighting its potential as a neural marker for autism spectrum disorder. These findings unveil the multifaceted mechanism whereby rhythmic cortical activity supports the multisensory integration of human motion, shedding light on how neural coding of hierarchical temporal structures orchestrates the processing of complex, natural stimuli across multiple timescales.