title: Immobilization impairs tactile perception and shrinks somatosensory cortical maps.
abstract: Use is a major factor driving plasticity of cortical processing and cortical maps. As demonstrated of blind Braille readers and musicians, long-lasting and exceptional usage of the fingers results in the development of outstanding sensorimotor skills and in expansions of the cortical finger representations. However, how periods of disuse affect cortical representations and perception in humans remains elusive. Here, we report that a few weeks of hand and arm immobilization by cast wearing significantly reduced hand use and impaired tactile acuity, associated with reduced activation of the respective finger representations in the somatosensory cortex (SI), measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Hemodynamic responses in the SI correlated positively with hand-use frequency and negatively with discrimination thresholds, indicating that reduced activation was most prominent in subjects with severe perceptual impairment. We found, strikingly, compensatory effects on the contralateral, healthy hand consisting of improved perceptual performance compared to healthy controls. Two to three weeks after cast removal, perceptual and cortical changes recovered, whereas tactile acuity on the healthy side remained superior to that on the formerly immobilized side. These findings suggest that brief periods of reduced use of a limb have overt consequences and thus constitute a significant driving force of brain organization equivalent to enhanced use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, BG-Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lissek
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilimzig
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stude
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pleger
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kalisch
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Sören A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Volkmar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nicolas
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tegenthoff
authors.forename: Hubert R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Dinse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007103:Immobilization / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult