Topic
Somatosensory system
About: Somatosensory system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6371 publications have been published within this topic receiving 316900 citations.
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TL;DR: Spinal cord neurons projecting to the brain stem were studied in cats prepared by decerebration or anesthetized with barbiturate or nitrous oxide and halothane to establish the capacity of these neurons to transmit nociceptive input.
151 citations
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TL;DR: The responses of a population of single neurons in the primate orbitofrontal cortex that respond to orally applied fat and to substances with a similar texture but different chemical composition are described, providing evidence that the neurons respond to the oral texture of fat, sensed by the somatosensory system.
Abstract: The primate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a site of convergence from primary taste, olfactory, and somatosensory cortical areas. We describe the responses of a population of single neurons in the O...
151 citations
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TL;DR: The results suggest that the human SI and SII cortices may be sequentially activated within one hemisphere, whereas SII ipsilateral to the stimulation may receive direct input from the periphery, at least when normal input from SI is interrupted.
Abstract: To study the effects of parietal lesions on activation of the human somatosensory cortical network, we measured somatosensory evoked fields to electric median nerve stimuli, using a whole-scalp 122-channel neuromagnetometer, from six patients with cortical right-hemisphere stroke and from seven healthy control subjects. In the control subjects, unilateral stimuli elicited responses which were satisfactorily accounted for by modelled sources in the contralateral primary (SI) and bilateral secondary (SII) somatosensory cortices. In all patients, stimulation of the right median nerve also activated the SI and SII cortices of the healthy left hemisphere. However, the activation pattern was altered, suggesting diminished interhemispheric inhibition via callosal connections after right-sided stroke. Responses to left median nerve stimuli showed large interindividual variability due to the different extents of the lesions. The strength of the 20-ms response, originating in the SI cortex, roughly reflected the severity of the tactile impairment. Right SII responses were absent in patients with abnormal right SI responses, whereas the left SII was active in all patients, regardless of the responsiveness of the right SI and/or SII. Our results suggest that the human SI and SII cortices may be sequentially activated within one hemisphere, whereas SII ipsilateral to the stimulation may receive direct input from the periphery, at least when normal input from SI is interrupted.
151 citations
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TL;DR: The long-term somatosensory enhancement of sound-evoked responses was strengthened while suppressive effects diminished in noise-exposed animals, especially those that developed tinnitus, here demonstrated for the first time in vivo long- term effects of somatosense inputs on acoustically evoked discharges of DCN neurons in guinea pigs.
Abstract: The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is the first neural site of bimodal auditory-somatosensory integration. Previous studies have shown that stimulation of somatosensory pathways results in immediate suppression or enhancement of subsequent acoustically evoked discharges. In the unimpaired auditory system suppression predominates. However, damage to the auditory input pathway leads to enhancement of excitatory somatosensory inputs to the cochlear nucleus, changing their effects on DCN neurons (Shore et al., 2008; Zeng et al., 2009). Given the well described connection between the somatosensory system and tinnitus in patients we sought to determine whether plastic changes in long-lasting bimodal somatosensory-auditory processing accompany tinnitus. Here we demonstrate for the first time in vivo long-term effects of somatosensory inputs on acoustically evoked discharges of DCN neurons in guinea pigs. The effects of trigeminal nucleus stimulation are compared between normal-hearing animals and animals overexposed with narrow band noise and behaviorally tested for tinnitus. The noise exposure resulted in a temporary threshold shift in auditory brainstem responses but a persistent increase in spontaneous and sound-evoked DCN unit firing rates and increased steepness of rate-level functions. Rate increases were especially prominent in buildup units. The long-term somatosensory enhancement of sound-evoked responses was strengthened while suppressive effects diminished in noise-exposed animals, especially those that developed tinnitus. Damage to the auditory nerve is postulated to trigger compensatory long-term synaptic plasticity of somatosensory inputs that might be an important underlying mechanism for tinnitus generation.
151 citations
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TL;DR: Data highlight the relevance of glial cells in chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity as part of the investigation of the role that specific brain areas play in neuropathy.
151 citations