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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

In Vivo Visualization of Spontaneous Activity in Neonatal Mouse Sensory Cortex at a Single-Neuron Resolution
Published on: November 21, 2023
Maturation of somatosensory cortical processing from birth to adulthood revealed by magnetoencephalography
Elina Pihko1, Päivi Nevalainen, Julia Stephen
1BioMag Laboratory, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa HUSLAB, Helsinki University Central Hospital, HUS, Finland. pihko@neuro.hut.fi
Objective:
To evaluate the maturation of tactile processing by recording somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) from healthy human subjects.
Methods:
SEFs to tactile stimulation of the left index finger were measured from the contralateral somatosensory cortex with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in five age groups: newborns, 6- and 12-18-month-olds, 1.6-6-year-olds, and adults. The waveforms of the measured signals and equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) were analyzed in awake and sleep states in order to separate the effects of age and vigilance state on SEFs.
Results:
There was an orderly, systematic change in the measured and ECD source waveforms of the initial cortical responses with age. The broad U-shaped response in newborns (M60) shifted to a W-shaped response with emergence of a notch by 6 months of age. The adult-type response with M30 and M50 components was present by 2 years. The ECDs of M60 and M30 were oriented anteriorly and that of M50 posteriorly. These maturational changes were independent of vigilance state.
Conclusions:
The most significant maturation of short latency cortical responses to tactile stimulation takes place during the first 2 years of life.
Significance:
The maturational changes of somatosensory processing can noninvasively be evaluated with MEG already in infancy.
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