A combined 2-deoxyglucose and neurophysiological study of primate somatosensory cortex

The metabolic activity pattern produced in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) of primates by repetitive delivery of a tactile stimulus is distinctly patchy. The functional significance of these patches, however, remains obscure. This investigation sought to determine the correlation between neural and metabolic activity produced by tactile stimuli and to evaluate the relationship, if any, between the neural activity and metabolic patches evoked by similar stimuli. Experiments were undertaken in which extracellular microelectrode recordings were carried out in animals that subsequently underwent a 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) study. Three types of relations were identified. First, the receptive fields (RF) and modality properties of neurons sampled in locations at which patches of metabolic label were found matched the "place" and "modal" properties of the stimulus used to produce 2DG labeling. Second, in cortical locations where the RF and modality properties of the sampled neurons differed from either the place or modal properties of the stimulus used to evoke the 2DG label, no above-background increases in metabolic labeling were found. Finally, in some cortical locations at which the receptive field and modality properties of the neurons matched those of the 2-deoxyglucose mapping stimulus, no above-background increases in metabolic labeling were found. This outcome leads us to suggest that moment-to-moment changes in neural responsivity, which might remain undetected by conventional receptive field mapping methods, contribute to the patchy pattern of metabolic activity visualized by the 2-deoxyglucose method.