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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Nociception01:44

Nociception

Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain. Thus, pain helps the...
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...

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Imaging Neural Activity in the Primary Somatosensory Cortex Using Thy1-GCaMP6s Transgenic Mice
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Fine-grained nociceptive maps in primary somatosensory cortex.

Flavia Mancini1, Patrick Haggard, Gian Domenico Iannetti

  • 1Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom. f.mancini@ucl.ac.uk

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|December 1, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Researchers found fine-grained topographic maps for pain signals from the digits in the human brain's primary somatosensory cortex (SI). These pain maps align with touch maps, suggesting similar neural representations.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Somatosensory System Research
  • Pain Perception Studies

Background:

  • Topographic maps are crucial for sensory processing in the brain.
  • Cortical representation of pain (nociception) precision, especially for distal body parts like digits, is debated.
  • Low innervation density in digits historically suggested coarse nociceptive mapping.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the precision of nociceptive topographic maps in the human primary somatosensory cortex (SI) for the digits.
  • To determine if fine-grained somatotopy exists for pain signals originating from the digits.
  • To compare the cortical organization of nociceptive and tactile inputs.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized painful, nociceptive-selective laser stimuli applied to the hand.
  • Employed phase-encoded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis techniques.
  • Mapped somatotopic representations of the digits within the contralateral SI cortex.

Main Results:

  • Revealed the existence of fine-grained somatotopic maps for nociceptive inputs from the digits in human SI.
  • Demonstrated high alignment between the observed nociceptive maps and maps derived from non-painful tactile stimuli.
  • Indicated potentially comparable cortical representations and interactions between mechanoreceptive and nociceptive signals.

Conclusions:

  • The human SI cortex exhibits precise somatotopic organization for both tactile and nociceptive inputs from the digits.
  • Findings suggest potential interactions and shared neural resources between pain and touch processing pathways.
  • This research provides a foundation for future studies on cortical plasticity in chronic pain conditions.