Motor cortex neuroplasticity associated with lingual nerve injury in rats

The aim of this study was to determine if lingual nerve trauma affects the features of face primary motor cortex (MI) defined by intracortical microstimulation (ICMS). The left lingual nerve was transected in adult male rats by an oral surgical procedure; sham rats (oral surgery but no nerve transection) as well as naive intact rats served as control groups. ICMS was applied at post-operative days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 to map the jaw and tongue motor representations in face MI by analyzing ICMS-evoked movements and electromyographic activity recorded in the genioglossus (GG) and anterior digastric (AD) muscles. There were no statistically significant effects of acute (day 0) nerve transection or sham procedure (p > 0.05). The surgery in the sham animals was associated with limited post-operative change; this was reflected in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the number of GG sites in left MI at post-operative day 14 compared to day 0. However, nerve transection was associated with significant increases in the total number of AD and GG sites in left or right MI or specifically the number of GG sites in rats at post-operative days 21 or 28 compared to earlier time periods. There were also significant differences between nerve-transected and sham groups at post-operative days 7, 14, or 21. These findings suggest that lingual nerve transection is associated with significant time-dependent neuroplastic changes in the tongue motor representations in face MI.