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Cited by 1,042Tactile and Sensory InteractionsMotor Control and AdaptationNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Topographic reorganization of somatosensory cortical areas 3b and 1 in adult monkeys following restricted deafferentation

Merzenich, M.M., Kaas, J.H., Wall, J., Nelson, R.J., Sur, M., Felleman, D.·1983·Neuroscience
DOI 10.1016/0306-4522(83)90024-6
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Abstract

Two to nine months after the median nerve was transected and ligated in adult owl and squirrel monkeys, the cortical sectors representing it within skin surface representations in Areas 3b and 1 were completely occupied by 'new' and expanded representations of surrounding skin fields. Some occupying representations were 'new' in the sense that (1) there was no evidence that these skin surfaces were represented in this region prior to median nerve transection; and (2) these skin surfaces retained their normal representation elsewhere within these two cortical representations of hand surfaces. Large 'new' representations of the dorsal surfaces of digits 1 and 2 (innervated by the radial nerve) and large 'new' representations of the hypothenar eminence (innervated by the ulnar nerve) were consistently recorded. Some surrounding skin surface representations expanded into the former median nerve zone, so that bordering skin surfaces (the ulnar insular palmar pad, the third digital palmar pad, glabrous ulnar digit 3, radial hand dorsum) were represented over far larger than normal cortical areas. These expanded representations of always-innervated skin sometimes appeared to move in entirety into the former median nerve representational zone (e.g. in the zone of representation of glabrous digit 4) were also consistently recorded. Reorganizational changes following median nerve sections were much more variable in Area 1 than in Area 3b. The topographic order of the reorganized cortical zone was comparable to normal. In at least most cortical sectors, there was a consistent, maintained relationship between receptive field size and magnification, i.e. as representations enlarged, receptive fields were correspondingly reduced in size. These studies indicate that topographic representations of the skin surface in adult monkeys are maintained dynamically. They clearly reveal that this projection system retains a self-organizing capacity in adult monkeys. They suggest that processes perhaps identical to a part of the original developmental organizing processes (by which details of field topographics are established) are operational throughout life in this projection system in primates. Some of the implications of these studies for the neural origins of tactile perception are discussed.

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  • S1 regions encode sensory information for individual digits of a hand along with different types of receptors within those digits.

    “Studies also have found evidence for S1 regions that encode sensory information for individual digits of a hand along with different types of receptors within those digits (Merzenich et al., 1983; Sur et al., 1984).”

    From Selectivity and Longevity of Peripheral-Nerve and Machine Interfaces: A Review. (2017) · cites this paper as Merzenich et al., 1983

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Authors
Merzenich, M. M., Kaas, J. H., Wall, J., Nelson, R. J., Sur, M., & Felleman, D.
Affiliations
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Neuroscience
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1983-01
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
33-55
ISSN
0306-4522 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/0306-4522(83)90024-6
OpenAlex
W2040200937
Cited by
1,042
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 29
FWCI
12.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
somatosensory cortex, deafferentation, median nerve transection, area 3b, area 1, owl monkey, squirrel monkey, receptive field size, cortical magnification, self-organization, tactile perception, hypothenar eminence, radial nerve, ulnar nerve
MeSH terms
Afferent Pathways, Animals, Aotus trivirgatus, Brain Mapping, Hand, Median Nerve, Nerve Regeneration, Radial Nerve, Saimiri, Sensory Deprivation, Skin, Somatosensory Cortex, Touch, Ulnar Nerve

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