title: Regionally specific human GABA concentration correlates with tactile discrimination thresholds.
abstract: The neural mechanisms underlying variability in human sensory perception remain incompletely understood. In particular, few studies have attempted to investigate the relationship between in vivo measurements of neurochemistry and individuals' behavioral performance. Our previous work found a relationship between GABA concentration in the visual cortex and orientation discrimination thresholds (Edden et al., 2009). In the present study, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy of GABA and psychophysical testing of vibrotactile frequency thresholds to investigate whether individual differences in tactile frequency discrimination performance are correlated with GABA concentration in sensorimotor cortex. Behaviorally, individuals showed a wide range of discrimination thresholds ranging from 3 to 7.6 Hz around the 25 Hz standard. These frequency discrimination thresholds were significantly correlated with GABA concentration (r = -0.58; p < 0.05) in individuals' sensorimotor cortex, but not with GABA concentration in an occipital control region (r = -0.04). These results demonstrate a link between GABA concentration and frequency discrimination in vivo, and support the hypothesis that GABAergic mechanisms have an important role to play in sensory discrimination.
authors.affiliation: Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, CF103AT Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicolaas A J
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Puts
authors.forename: Richard A E
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Edden
authors.forename: C John
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McGlone
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McGonigle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
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