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Somatosensation

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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 23, 2025

Compensatory Limb Use and Behavioral Assessment of Motor Skill Learning Following Sensorimotor Cortex Injury in a Mouse Model of Ischemic Stroke

Compensatory Limb Use and Behavioral Assessment of Motor Skill Learning Following Sensorimotor Cortex Injury in a Mouse Model of Ischemic Stroke

Published on: July 10, 2014

Decoding attempted phantom hand movements from ipsilateral sensorimotor areas after amputation.

L C M Bruurmijn¹, M Raemaekers¹, M P Branco¹

¹UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Journal of Neural Engineering

|August 25, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can decode phantom hand movements from the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex years after amputation. This finding suggests BCI implants may only need to cover one hemisphere, reducing invasiveness.

Keywords:

amputee attempted movement brain–computer interface functional MRI machine learning sensorimotor cortex

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Biomedical Engineering

Background:

The sensorimotor cortex is a key target for Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) due to robust movement decoding.
BCIs traditionally focus on the contralateral hemisphere, but ipsilateral control is increasingly recognized.
Understanding denervation effects on ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex is crucial for advanced BCI development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how arm amputation (denervation) affects movement representation in the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex.
To determine if phantom hand movements can be decoded from the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex.

Main Methods:

Utilized 7T functional MRI to measure brain activity in eight amputees and nine controls.
Subjects performed American Manual Alphabet gestures (real or attempted phantom movements).
A classifier analyzed ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex activation patterns in four regions of interest (ROIs).

Main Results:

Decoding of phantom and intact hand movements was significantly above chance from all ipsilateral ROIs.
Movement decoding was successful for both left (intact) and right (phantom) hands within the same hemisphere.
Classification scores indicated robust representation of hand movements in the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex post-denervation.

Conclusions:

Movement representations persist in the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex years after denervation.
Decoding both hands from a single hemisphere is feasible, simplifying BCI implantation.
This research paves the way for less invasive BCI surgeries and expanded options for individuals with unilateral motor cortex damage.