A combination of 7 tesla fMRI and psychophysics revealed the reorganisation of the human somatosensory cortex and changes in tactile perceptual abilities after just 24 hours of altered hand use.
Single-nociceptor tracing reveals a novel somatotopic organization for the mammalian pain system, and physiological recordings and peripheral optogenetic behavior assays suggest that it is a possible mechanism underlying region-specific pain sensation.
The brain continues to represent individual fingers in primary somatosensory cortex decades after the amputation of a hand, indicating that cortical maps do not require ongoing sensory input from the body.
The human brain encodes coordinated patterns of joint movements – synergies – to increase the efficiency with which it can control complex hand movements.
Whisker barrels provide clues about neocortical development, as computer modelling shows that barrels can self-organize, based on competition between adjacent thalamocortical axons, suggesting that genetic instruction plays a secondary role.
Sensory enrichment creates a more columnar, less salt-and-pepper whisker map in somatosensory cortex, showing that impoverished experience contributes to intermixed tuning in rodent sensory maps.
Cervical spinal cord stimulation evokes sensory percepts in the missing hand and arm of people with upper-limb amputation, regardless of amputation level or time post-amputation.
Coupling between the gastric rhythm and brain activity at rest reveals a novel resting-state network, characterized by delayed functional connectivity.
Focal optogenetic stimulation strengthens functional connectivity between primary somatosensory and motor cortices in macaques, in a manner consistent with a Hebbian model of stimulus-driven plasticity.
