Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026
04:40
Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS
Published on: July 30, 2020
3.3K
Sensory and decision-related activity propagate in a cortical feedback loop during touch perception
Sung Eun Kwon1, Hongdian Yang1, Genki Minamisawa1
1The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Brain Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Nature Neuroscience
|July 21, 2016
Summary
Neural pathways in the brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory processing
- Decision-making
Background:
- The brain converts sensory stimuli into perceptions.
- Neural activity progresses from sensation to decision in successive cortical stages.
- Feedforward and feedback pathways are crucial but their functions are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the computational roles of feedforward and feedback pathways in sensory processing.
- To monitor pathway-specific neuronal activity during a perceptual task.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cellular-resolution, pathway-specific imaging.
- Measured neuronal activity in primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortices of mice.
- Mice performed a tactile detection task.
Main Results:
- S1 showed better stimulus encoding; S2 activity better reflected perceptual choice.
- Feedforward activity from S1 to S2 predicted choice.
- Activity related to touch and choice propagated in an S1-S2 loop via feedforward and feedback axons.
Conclusions:
- Sensory inputs converge into perceptual outcomes.
- Feedforward computations are reinforced within a feedback loop.
Related Concept Videos
01:33Somatosensation
44.8K
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.
44.8K
01:11Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
11.8K
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...
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...
11.8K
01:29Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways
9.4K
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...
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
9.4K
01:23Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex
3.6K
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...
3.6K
01:28Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
3.3K
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...
3.3K
01:31What is a Sensory System?
102.5K
Sensory systems detect stimuli—such as light and sound waves—and transduce them into neural signals that can be interpreted by the nervous system. In addition to external stimuli detected by the senses, some sensory systems detect internal stimuli—such as the proprioceptors in muscles and tendons that send feedback about limb position.
102.5K