title: Timing and connectivity in the human somatosensory cortex from single trial mass electrical activity.
abstract: Parallel-distributed processing is ubiquitous in the brain but often ignored by experimental designs and methods of analysis, which presuppose sequential and stereotypical brain activations. We introduce here a methodology that can effectively deal with sequential and distributed activity. Regional brain activations elicited by electrical median nerve stimulation are identified in tomographic estimates extracted from single trial magnetoencephalographic signals. Habituation is identified in both primary somatosensory cortex (SI) and secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), often interrupted by resurgence of strong activations. Pattern analysis is used to identify single trials with homogeneous regional brain activations. Common activity patterns with well-defined connectivity are identified within each homogeneous group of single trials across the subjects studied. On the contralateral side one encounters distinct sets of single trials following identical stimuli. We observe in one set of trials sequential activation from SI to SII and insula with onset of SII at 60 msec, whereas in the other set simultaneous early co-activations of the same two areas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Human Brain Dynamics, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosama, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. ioannides@postman.riken.go.jp
authors.forename: Andreas A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ioannides
authors.forename: George K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Kostopoulos
authors.forename: Nikolaos A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Laskaris
authors.forename: Lichan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Tadahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schellens
authors.forename: Vahe
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Poghosyan
authors.forename: Ara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khurshudyan
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors