REVIEW ■ : Reorganization of Sensory Systems of Primates after Injury:
TL;DR: The orderly representations of sensory surfaces in the brains of adult mammals have the capacity to reor ganize after injuries that deprive these representations of some of their normal sources of activation.
Abstract: The orderly representations of sensory surfaces in the brains of adult mammals have the capacity to reor ganize after injuries that deprive these representations of some of their normal sources of activation. Such reorganizations can be produced by injury that occurs peripherally, such as nerve damage or amputation, or after injury to the CNS, such as spinal cord damage or cortical lesion. These changes likely are mediated by a number of different mechanisms, and can be extensive and involve the growth of new connections. Finally, some types of reorganizations may help mediate the recovery of lost functions, whereas others may lead to sensory abnormalities and perceptual errors. NEUROSCIENTIST 3:123-130, 1997
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TL;DR: Of critical concern is the possibility that developmental exposure to neurotoxicants may result in an acceleration of age-related decline in function, and the fact that developmental neurotoxicity that results in small effects can have a profound societal impact when amortized across the entire population and across the life span of humans.
Abstract: Vulnerable periods during the development of the nervous system are sensitive to environmental insults because they are dependent on the temporal and regional emergence of critical developmental processes (i.e., proliferation, migration, differentiation, synaptogenesis, myelination, and apoptosis). Evidence from numerous sources demonstrates that neural development extends from the embryonic period through adolescence. In general, the sequence of events is comparable among species, although the time scales are considerably different. Developmental exposure of animals or humans to numerous agents (e.g., X-ray irradiation, methylazoxymethanol, ethanol, lead, methyl mercury, or chlorpyrifos) demonstrates that interference with one or more of these developmental processes can lead to developmental neurotoxicity. Different behavioral domains (e.g., sensory, motor, and various cognitive functions) are subserved by different brain areas. Although there are important differences between the rodent and human brain, analogous structures can be identified. Moreover, the ontogeny of specific behaviors can be used to draw inferences regarding the maturation of specific brain structures or neural circuits in rodents and primates, including humans. Furthermore, various clinical disorders in humans (e.g., schizophrenia, dyslexia, epilepsy, and autism) may also be the result of interference with normal ontogeny of developmental processes in the nervous system. Of critical concern is the possibility that developmental exposure to neurotoxicants may result in an acceleration of age-related decline in function. This concern is compounded by the fact that developmental neurotoxicity that results in small effects can have a profound societal impact when amortized across the entire population and across the life span of humans.
2,659 citations
TL;DR: This is the first demonstration in humans of a long-term alteration in brain function associated with a therapy-induced improvement in the rehabilitation of movement after neurological injury.
Abstract: Background and Purpose—Injury-induced cortical reorganization is a widely recognized phenomenon. In contrast, there is almost no information on treatment-induced plastic changes in the human brain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate reorganization in the motor cortex of stroke patients that was induced with an efficacious rehabilitation treatment. Methods—We used focal transcranial magnetic stimulation to map the cortical motor output area of a hand muscle on both sides in 13 stroke patients in the chronic stage of their illness before and after a 12-day-period of constraint-induced movement therapy. Results—Before treatment, the cortical representation area of the affected hand muscle was significantly smaller than the contralateral side. After treatment, the muscle output area size in the affected hemisphere was significantly enlarged, corresponding to a greatly improved motor performance of the paretic limb. Shifts of the center of the output map in the affected hemisphere suggested the recru...
1,390 citations
TL;DR: An animal model for investigating stimulus-induced rCBF responses in the rat is developed and it is shown that there is a progressive and selective activation of somatosensory and limbic system structures in the brain and brainstem following the subcutaneous injection of formalin.
Abstract: Pain is a unified experience composed of interacting discriminative, affective-motivational, and cognitive components, each of which is mediated and modulated through forebrain mechanisms acting at spinal, brainstem, and cerebral levels. The size of the human forebrain in relation to the spinal cord gives anatomical emphasis to forebrain control over nociceptive processing. Human forebrain pathology can cause pain without the activation of nociceptors. Functional imaging of the normal human brain with positron emission tomography (PET) shows synaptically induced increases in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in several regions specifically during pain. We have examined the variables of gender, type of noxious stimulus, and the origin of nociceptive input as potential determinants of the pattern and intensity of rCBF responses. The structures most consistently activated across genders and during contact heat pain, cold pain, cutaneous laser pain or intramuscular pain were the contralateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex, the bilateral thalamus and premotor cortex, and the cerebellar vermis. These regions are commonly activated in PET studies of pain conducted by other investigators, and the intensity of the brain rCBF response correlates parametrically with perceived pain intensity. To complement the human studies, we developed an animal model for investigating stimulus-induced rCBF responses in the rat. In accord with behavioral measures and the results of human PET, there is a progressive and selective activation of somatosensory and limbic system structures in the brain and brainstem following the subcutaneous injection of formalin. The animal model and human PET studies should be mutually reinforcing and thus facilitate progress in understanding forebrain mechanisms of normal and pathological pain.
371 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, magnetic source imaging revealed that the topographic representation in the somatosensory cortex of upper extremity amputees was shifted an average of 1.5 cm toward the area that would normally receive input from the now absent nerves supplying the hand and fingers.
Abstract: MAGNETIC source imaging revealed that the topographic representation in the somatosensory cortex of the face area in upper extremity amputees was shifted an average of 1.5 cm toward the area that would normally receive input from the now absent nerves supplying the hand and fingers. Observed alterat
348 citations
TL;DR: The study indicates that oromandibular-facial trauma, including dental procedures, may precipitate the onset of OMD, especially in predisposed people, and prompt recognition and treatment may prevent further complications.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES—Oromandibular dystonia (OMD) is a focal dystonia manifested by involuntary muscle contractions producing repetitive, patterned mouth, jaw, and tongue movements. Dystonia is usually idiopathic (primary), but in some cases it follows peripheral injury. Peripherally induced cervical and limb dystonia is well recognised, and the aim of this study was to characterise peripherally induced OMD.
METHODS—The following inclusion criteria were used for peripherally induced OMD: (1) the onset of the dystonia was within a few days or months (up to 1 year) after the injury; (2) the trauma was well documented by the patient's history or a review of their medical and dental records; and (3) the onset of dystonia was anatomically related to the site of injury (facial and oral).
RESULTS—Twenty seven patients were identified in the database with OMD, temporally and anatomically related to prior injury or surgery. No additional precipitant other than trauma could be detected. None of the patients had any litigation pending. The mean age at onset was 50.11 (SD 14.15) (range 23-74) years and there was a 2:1 female preponderance. Mean latency between the initial trauma and the onset of OMD was 65 days (range 1 day-1 year). Ten (37%) patients had some evidence of predisposing factors such as family history of movement disorders, prior exposure to neuroleptic drugs, and associated dystonia affecting other regions or essential tremor. When compared with 21 patients with primary OMD, there was no difference for age at onset, female preponderance, and phenomenology. The frequency of dystonic writer's cramp, spasmodic dysphonia, bruxism, essential tremor, and family history of movement disorder, however, was lower in the post-traumatic group (p<0.05). In both groups the response to botulinum toxin treatment was superior to medical therapy (p<0.005). Surgical intervention for temporomandibular disorders was more frequent in the post-traumatic group and was associated with worsening of dystonia.
CONCLUSION—The study indicates that oromandibular-facial trauma, including dental procedures, may precipitate the onset of OMD, especially in predisposed people. Prompt recognition and treatment may prevent further complications.
157 citations
References
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TL;DR: The within-subject effects mitigate suggestions that these differences arise from generally acting hormonal or metabolic consequences of the training experience, although the possibility that these effects result from neural activity per se and are unrelated to information storage cannot be excluded.
319 citations
"REVIEW ■ : Reorganization of Sensor..." refers background in this paper
...Persisting changes in activity patterns may also alter the growth, replacement and maintenance patterns of synapses, dendrites, and axon arbors (46)....
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TL;DR: Article de synthese sur les mecanismes de plasticite visuelle : plasticite des interactions binoculaires chez les chats and les singes, plasticite de la selectivite dans le cortex visuel, et plasticite compensatrice apres privation de la vision.
Abstract: Article de synthese sur les mecanismes de plasticite visuelle : plasticite des interactions binoculaires chez les chats et les singes ; plasticite de la selectivite dans le cortex visuel ; plasticite compensatrice apres privation de la vision ; mecanisme de la plasticite synaptique
314 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined sensory afferent terminations in the spinal cord and brainstem and determined the somatotopic organization of cortical area 3b in three adult monkeys with previous hand or forearm amputation, as veterinary treatment of forelimb injuries.
Abstract: Reorganization of somatosensory cortex after peripheral nerve damage typically has been attributed to cortical plasticity. Here we provide evidence that much of the large-scale cortical reorganization that occurs after a major loss of peripheral inputs reflects the sprouting or expansion of afferents from the remaining forelimb into deprived territories of the spinal cord and brainstem. We examined sensory afferent terminations in the spinal cord and brainstem, and determined the somatotopic organization of cortical area 3b in three adult monkeys with previous hand or forearm amputation, as veterinary treatment of forelimb injuries. In each monkey, the distribution of labeled sensory afferent terminations from the remaining parts of the fore-limb was much more extensive than the normal distribution of inputs from the forelimb, and extended into portions of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and the cuneate nucleus of the brainstem related to the amputated hand. In the same animals, tactile stimulation of the forelimb activated much of the deprived hand representation in area 3b of cortex; the lateral portion of the deprived region in area 3B appeared to be reactivated by inputs from the face. These data provide important new evidence that one of the mechanisms subserving large scale reorganization in cortex is a relay of topographic changes that occur subcortically. Presumably, the expanded primary sensory inputs activate postsynaptic neurons that are normally driven by inputs from the hand so that the neurons now have receptive fields on the forearm. Since the topographic representation of the body is greatly magnified in the relay to cortex, the subcortical changes can result in dramatic cortical map changes.
308 citations
TL;DR: Recent behavioral and physiological evidence suggests that even brief sensory deprivation can lead to the rapid emergence of new and functionally effective neural connections in the adult human brain.
Abstract: Recent behavioral and physiological evidence suggests that even brief sensory deprivation can lead to the rapid emergence of new and functionally effective neural connections in the adult human brain.
282 citations
"REVIEW ■ : Reorganization of Sensor..." refers background in this paper
...In particular, light touch on the stump of an amputated arm is sometimes felt both on the stump and on some specific part of the phantom arm (58-60)....
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...face and on various digits of the missing hand (58-60)....
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TL;DR: Thalamic reorganization demonstrates that peripheral sensory deprivation may induce immediate plastic changes at multiple levels of the somatosensory system, and suggests a disruption of the normal dynamic equilibrium between multiple ascending and descending influences on the VPM.
Abstract: PERIPHERAL sensory deprivation induces reorganization within the somatosensory cortex of adult animals1-6. Although most studies have focused on the somatosensory cortex1–6, changes at subcortical levels (for example the thalamus) could also play a fundamental role in sensory plasticity7–11. To investigate this, we made chronic simultaneous recordings of large numbers of single neurons across the ventral posterior medial thalamus (VPM) in adult rats. This allowed a continuous and quantitative evaluation of the receptive fields of the same sample of single VPM neurons per animal, before and after sensory deprivation. Local anaesthesia in the face induced an immediate and reversible reorganization of a large portion of the VPM map. This differentially affected the short latency (4–6 ms) responses (SLRs) and long latency (15–25 ms) responses (LLRs) of single VPM neurons. The SLRs and LLRs normally define spatiotemporally complex receptive fields in the VPM12. Here we report that 73% of single neurons whose original receptive fields included the anaesthetized zone showed immediate unmasking of SLRs in response to stimulation of adjacent cutaneous regions, and/or loss of SLRs with preservation or enhancement of LLRs in response to stimulation of regions just surrounding the anaesthetized zone. This thalamic reorganization demonstrates that peripheral sensory deprivation may induce immediate plastic changes at multiple levels of the somatosensory system. Further, its spatiotemporally complex character suggests a disruption of the normal dynamic equilibrium between multiple ascending and descending influences on the VPM.
233 citations
"REVIEW ■ : Reorganization of Sensor..." refers background in this paper
...eters, are dynamically maintained by the adjustments in the balance of excitatory and inhibitory events (4-7)....
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