Associative pairing of tactile stimulation induces somatosensory cortical reorganization in rats and humans.
We used a protocol of associative (Hebbian) pairing of tactile stimulation (APTS) to evoke cortical plastic changes. Reversible reorganization of the adult rat paw representations in somatosensory cortex (SI) induced by a few hours of APTS included selective enlargement of the areas of cortical neurones representing the stimulated skin fields and of the corresponding receptive fields (RFs). Late, presumably NMDA receptor-mediated response components were enhanced, indicating an involvement of glutamatergic synapses. A control protocol of identical stimulus pattern applied to only a single skin site revealed no changes of RFs, indicating that co-activation is crucial for induction. Using an analogous APTS protocol in humans revealed an increase of spatial discrimination performance indicating that fast plastic processes based on co-activation patterns act on a cortical and perceptual level.
Godde
B
B
Institut für Neuroinformatik, Theoretische Biologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.
Spengler
F
F
Dinse
H R
HR
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005385:Fingers / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*