title: Tactile representation of the head and shoulders assessed by fMRI in the nonhuman primate.
abstract: In nonhuman primates, tactile representation at the cortical level has mostly been studied using single-cell recordings targeted to specific cortical areas. In this study, we explored the representation of tactile information delivered to the face or the shoulders at the whole brain level, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the nonhuman primate. We used air puffs delivered to the center of the face, the periphery of the face, or the shoulders. These stimulations elicited activations in numerous cortical areas, encompassing the primary and secondary somatosensory areas, prefrontal and premotor areas, and parietal, temporal, and cingulate areas as well as low-level visual cortex. Importantly, a specific parieto-temporo-prefrontal network responded to the three stimulations but presented a marked preference for air puffs directed to the center of the face. This network corresponds to areas that are also involved in near-space representation, as well as in the multisensory integration of information at the interface between this near space and the skin of the face, and is probably involved in the construction of a peripersonal space representation around the head.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Neuroscience Cognitive, UMR 5229, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wardak
authors.affiliation: Centre de Neuroscience Cognitive, UMR 5229, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guipponi
authors.affiliation: Centre de Neuroscience Cognitive, UMR 5229, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pinède
authors.affiliation: Centre de Neuroscience Cognitive, UMR 5229, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France suliann.benhamed@isc.cnrs.fr.
authors.forename: Suliann
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1510-7284
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ben Hamed
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010550:Personal Space; D012782:Shoulder / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception
keywords: fMRI; face; head; nonhuman primate; tactile