Prefrontal and posterior parietal contributions to the perceptual awareness of touch

AbstractWhich brain regions contribute to the perceptual awareness of touch remains largely unclear. We collected structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and neurological examination reports of 70 patients with brain injuries or stroke in S1 extending into adjacent parietal, temporal or pre-/frontal regions. We applied voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping to identify brain areas that overlap with an impaired touch perception (i.e., hypoesthesia). As expected, patients with hypoesthesia (n = 43) presented lesions in all Brodmann areas in S1 on postcentral gyrus (BA 1, 2, 3a, 3b). At the anterior border to BA 3b, we additionally identified motor area BA 4p in association with hypoesthesia, as well as further ventrally the ventral premotor cortex (BA 6, BA 44), assumed to be involved in whole-body perception. At the posterior border to S1, we found hypoesthesia associated effects in attention-related areas such as the inferior parietal lobe and intraparietal sulcus. Downstream to S1, we replicated previously reported lesion-hypoesthesia associations in the parietal operculum and insular cortex (i.e., ventral pathway of somatosensory processing). The present findings extend this pathway from S1 to the insular cortex by prefrontal and posterior parietal areas involved in multisensory integration and attention processes.

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Sense of Agency Beyond Sensorimotor Process: Decoding Self-Other Action Attribution in the Human Brain

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa028 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (7) ◽

pp. 4076-4091

Author(s):

Ryu Ohata ◽

Tomohisa Asai ◽

Hiroshi Kadota ◽

Hiroaki Shigemasu ◽

Kenji Ogawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Subjective Experience ◽

Parietal Lobe ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Sense Of Agency ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

Sensorimotor Information ◽

The One ◽

The Right ◽

Different Levels

Abstract The sense of agency is defined as the subjective experience that “I” am the one who is causing the action. Theoretical studies postulate that this subjective experience is developed through multistep processes extending from the sensorimotor to the cognitive level. However, it remains unclear how the brain processes such different levels of information and constitutes the neural substrates for the sense of agency. To answer this question, we combined two strategies: an experimental paradigm, in which self-agency gradually evolves according to sensorimotor experience, and a multivoxel pattern analysis. The combined strategies revealed that the sensorimotor, posterior parietal, anterior insula, and higher visual cortices contained information on self-other attribution during movement. In addition, we investigated whether the found regions showed a preference for self-other attribution or for sensorimotor information. As a result, the right supramarginal gyrus, a portion of the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), was found to be the most sensitive to self-other attribution among the found regions, while the bilateral precentral gyri and left IPL dominantly reflected sensorimotor information. Our results demonstrate that multiple brain regions are involved in the development of the sense of agency and that these show specific preferences for different levels of information.

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A hemispheric asymmetry in somatosensory processing

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x0700163x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 223-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Giuseppe Vallar

Keyword(s):

Right Hemisphere ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Specific Aspect ◽

The Body ◽

Somatosensory Processing ◽

Perceptual Awareness ◽

Bodily Awareness ◽

Feature Processing ◽

Target Article ◽

Neuropsychological Evidence

AbstractThe model presented in the target article includes feature processing and higher representations. I argue, based on neuropsychological evidence, that spatial representations are also involved in perceptual awareness of somatosensory events. Second, there is an asymmetry, with a right-hemisphere–based bilateral representation of the body. Third, the specific aspect of bodily awareness concerning motor function monitoring involves a network that includes the premotor cortex.

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Reversible deactivation of higher-order posterior parietal areas. I. Alterations of receptive field characteristics in early stages of neocortical processing

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00140.2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 112 (10) ◽

pp. 2529-2544 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Dylan F. Cooke ◽

Adam B. Goldring ◽

Mary K. L. Baldwin ◽

Gregg H. Recanzone ◽

Arnold Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Macaque Monkey ◽

Field Size ◽

Somatosensory Processing ◽

Receptive Field Size ◽

Area 5 ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

Area 7B

Somatosensory processing in the anesthetized macaque monkey was examined by reversibly deactivating posterior parietal areas 5L and 7b and motor/premotor cortex (M1/PM) with microfluidic thermal regulators developed by our laboratories. We examined changes in receptive field size and configuration for neurons in areas 1 and 2 that occurred during and after cooling deactivation. Together the deactivated fields and areas 1 and 2 form part of a network for reaching and grasping in human and nonhuman primates. Cooling area 7b had a dramatic effect on receptive field size for neurons in areas 1 and 2, while cooling area 5 had moderate effects and cooling M1/PM had little effect. Specifically, cooling discrete locations in 7b resulted in expansions of the receptive fields for neurons in areas 1 and 2 that were greater in magnitude and occurred in a higher proportion of sites than similar changes evoked by cooling the other fields. At some sites, the neural receptive field returned to the precooling configuration within 5–22 min of rewarming, but at other sites changes in receptive fields persisted. These results indicate that there are profound top-down influences on sensory processing of early cortical areas in the somatosensory cortex.

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The ‘creatures’ of the human cortical somatosensory system

Brain Communications ◽

10.1093/braincomms/fcaa003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Noam Saadon-Grosman ◽

Yonatan Loewenstein ◽

Shahar Arzy

Keyword(s):

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Somatosensory System ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Whole Body ◽

Functional Specialization ◽

Body Parts ◽

Somatosensory Processing ◽

Somatosensory Stimulation ◽

Cortical Parcellation

Abstract Penfield’s description of the ‘homunculus’, a ‘grotesque creature’ with large lips and hands and small trunk and legs depicting the representation of body-parts within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), is one of the most prominent contributions to the neurosciences. Since then, numerous studies have identified additional body-parts representations outside of S1. Nevertheless, it has been implicitly assumed that S1’s homunculus is representative of the entire somatosensory cortex. Therefore, the distribution of body-parts representations in other brain regions, the property that gave Penfield’s homunculus its famous ‘grotesque’ appearance, has been overlooked. We used whole-body somatosensory stimulation, functional MRI and a new cortical parcellation to quantify the organization of the cortical somatosensory representation. Our analysis showed first, an extensive somatosensory response over the cortex; and second, that the proportional representation of body parts differs substantially between major neuroanatomical regions and from S1, with, for instance, much larger trunk representation at higher brain regions, potentially in relation to the regions’ functional specialization. These results extend Penfield’s initial findings to the higher level of somatosensory processing and suggest a major role for somatosensation in human cognition.

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Altered thalamic connectivity during spontaneous attacks of migraine without aura: A resting-state fMRI study

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1177/0333102417729113 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (7) ◽

pp. 1237-1244 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Faisal Mohammad Amin ◽

Anders Hougaard ◽

Stefano Magon ◽

Till Sprenger ◽

Frauke Wolfram ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Brain Regions ◽

The Right

Background Functional connectivity of brain networks may be altered in migraine without aura patients. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated changed activity in the thalamus, pons and cerebellum in migraineurs. Here, we investigated the thalamic, pontine and cerebellar network connectivity during spontaneous migraine attacks. Methods Seventeen patients with episodic migraine without aura underwent resting-state fMRI scan during and outside of a spontaneous migraine attack. Primary endpoint was a difference in functional connectivity between the attack and the headache-free days. Functional connectivity was assessed in four different networks using seed-based analysis. The chosen seeds were in the thalamus (MNI coordinates x,y,z: right, 22,–24,0 and left, –22,–28,6), pons (right, 8,–24,–32 and left, –8,–24,–32), cerebellum crus I (right, 46,–58,–30 and left, –46,–58,–30) and cerebellum lobule VI (right, 34,–42,–36 and left, –32,–42,–36). Results We found increased functional connectivity between the right thalamus and several contralateral brain regions (superior parietal lobule, insular cortex, primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area and orbitofrontal cortex). There was decreased functional connectivity between the right thalamus and three ipsilateral brain areas (primary somatosensory cortex and premotor cortex). We found no change in functional connectivity in the pontine or the cerebellar networks. Conclusions The study indicates that network connectivity between thalamus and pain modulating as well as pain encoding cortical areas are affected during spontaneous migraine attacks.

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Invasive EEG Investigation of the Insula

Invasive Studies of the Human Epileptic Brain ◽

10.1093/med/9780198714668.003.0027 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 367-377

Author(s):

Philippe Ryvlin ◽

Fabienne Picard

Keyword(s):

Parietal Lobe ◽

Focal Cortical Dysplasia ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Clear Cut ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Ictal Eeg ◽

Epileptogenic Lesion ◽

Focal Discharge ◽

Dense Sampling

Invasive EEG investigation of the insular cortex is performed in various forms of focal drug-resistant epilepsies, including patients with a clear-cut intra-insular epileptogenic lesion, such as focal cortical dysplasia, as well as patients whose non-invasive presurgical evaluation suggests perisylvian epilepsy, temporal plus epilepsy, sleep hypermotor epilepsy, or MRI-negative frontal or parietal lobe epilepsy. Stereo-EEG (SEEG) is currently the preferred method for investigating the insula, using orthogonal or oblique trajectories, or a combination, with no evidence of higher risk of intracranial bleeding than in other brain regions. Intra-insular ictal EEG patterns are often characterized by a prolonged focal discharge restricted to one of the five insular gyri, requiring dense sampling of the insular cortex in suspected insular epilepsies. SEEG also offers the potential to perform thermolesion of insular epileptogenic zones, which, together with MRI-guided laser ablation, represents a possibly safer alternative to open-skull surgical resection of the insula.

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Integration of Target and Effector Information in the Human Brain During Reach Planning

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00456.2006 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 97 (1) ◽

pp. 188-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 132

Author(s):

S. M. Beurze ◽

F. P. de Lange ◽

I. Toni ◽

W. P. Medendorp

Keyword(s):

Parietal Cortex ◽

Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Spatial Location ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

The Right ◽

Integrative Processing ◽

Reach Planning

To plan a reaching movement, the brain must integrate information about the location of the target with information about the limb selected for the reach. Here, we applied rapid event-related 3-T fMRI to investigate this process in human subjects ( n = 16) preparing a reach following two successive visual instruction cues. One cue instructed which arm to use; the other cue instructed the location of the reach target. We hypothesized that regions involved in the integration of target and effector information should not only respond to each of the two instruction cues, but should respond more strongly to the second cue due to the added integrative processing to establish the reach plan. We found bilateral regions in the posterior parietal cortex, the premotor cortex, the medial frontal cortex, and the insular cortex to be involved in target–arm integration, as well as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and an area in the right lateral occipital sulcus to respond in this manner. We further determined the functional properties of these regions in terms of spatial and effector specificity. This showed that the posterior parietal cortex and the dorsal premotor cortex specify both the spatial location of a target and the effector selected for the response. We therefore conclude that these regions are selectively engaged in the neural computations for reach planning, consistent with the results from physiological studies in nonhuman primates.

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The “creatures” of the human cortical somatosensory system

10.1101/675611 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

N. Saadon-Grosman ◽

Y. Loewenstein ◽

S. Arzy

Keyword(s):

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Somatosensory System ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Whole Body ◽

Functional Specialization ◽

Body Parts ◽

Somatosensory Processing ◽

Somatosensory Stimulation ◽

Cortical Parcellation

AbstractPenfield’s description of the “homunculus”, a “grotesque creature” with large lips and hands and small trunk and legs depicting the representation of body-parts within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), is one of the most prominent contributions to the neurosciences. Since then, numerous studies have identified additional body-parts representations outside of S1. Nevertheless, it has been implicitly assumed that S1’s homunculus is representative of the entire somatosensory cortex. Therefore, the distribution of body-parts representations in other brain regions, the property that gave Penfield’s homunculus its famous “grotesque” appearance, has been overlooked. We used whole-body somatosensory stimulation, functional MRI and a new cortical parcellation to quantify the organization of the cortical somatosensory representation. Our analysis showed first, an extensive somatosensory response over the cortex; and second, that the proportional representation of body-parts differs substantially between major neuroanatomical regions and from S1, with, for instance, much larger trunk representation at higher brain regions, potentially in relation to the regions’ functional specialization. These results extend Penfield’s initial findings to the higher level of somatosensory processing and suggest a major role for somatosensation in human cognition.

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Neural Underpinnings of Numerical and Spatial Cognition: An fMRI Meta-Analysis of Brain Regions Associated with Symbolic Number, Arithmetic, and Mental Rotation

10.31234/osf.io/dyqrx ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Zachary Hawes ◽

H Moriah Sokolowski ◽

Chuka Bosah Ononye ◽

Daniel Ansari

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Parietal Lobe ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Likelihood Estimation ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Number Representation ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

The Right ◽

Symbolic Number

Where and under what conditions do spatial and numerical skills converge and diverge in the brain? To address this question, we conducted a meta-analysis of brain regions associated with basic symbolic number processing, arithmetic, and mental rotation. We used Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to construct quantitative meta-analytic maps synthesizing results from 86 neuroimaging papers (~ 30 studies/cognitive process). All three cognitive processes were found to activate bilateral parietal regions in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS); a finding consistent with shared processing accounts. Numerical and arithmetic processing were associated with overlap in the left angular gyrus, whereas mental rotation and arithmetic both showed activity in the middle frontal gyri. These patterns suggest regions of cortex potentially more specialized for symbolic number representation and domain-general mental manipulation, respectively. Additionally, arithmetic was associated with unique activity throughout the fronto-parietal network and mental rotation was associated with unique activity in the right superior parietal lobe. Overall, these results provide new insights into the intersection of numerical and spatial thought in the human brain.

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Angiopoietin-Like Growth Factor Involved in Leptin Signaling in the Hypothalamus

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22073443 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (7) ◽

pp. 3443

Author(s):

Yunseon Jang ◽

Jun Young Heo ◽

Min Joung Lee ◽

Jiebo Zhu ◽

Changjun Seo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Factor ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Whole Body ◽

Signal Transducers ◽

Leptin Signaling ◽

Stat3 Phosphorylation ◽

Hypothalamic Regulation ◽

Induced Signal ◽

Body Energy ◽

Transcription 3

The hypothalamic regulation of appetite governs whole-body energy balance. Satiety is regulated by endocrine factors including leptin, and impaired leptin signaling is associated with obesity. Despite the anorectic effect of leptin through the regulation of the hypothalamic feeding circuit, a distinct downstream mediator of leptin signaling in neuron remains unclear. Angiopoietin-like growth factor (AGF) is a peripheral activator of energy expenditure and antagonizes obesity. However, the regulation of AGF expression in brain and localization to mediate anorectic signaling is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that AGF is expressed in proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-expressing neurons located in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus. Unlike other brain regions, hypothalamic AGF expression is stimulated by leptin-induced signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation. In addition, leptin treatment to hypothalamic N1 cells significantly enhanced the promoter activity of AGF. This induction was abolished by the pretreatment of ruxolitinib, a leptin signaling inhibitor. These results indicate that hypothalamic AGF expression is induced by leptin and colocalized to POMC neurons.

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