title: Four-dimensional maps of the human somatosensory system.
abstract: A fine-grained description of the spatiotemporal dynamics of human brain activity is a major goal of neuroscientific research. Limitations in spatial and temporal resolution of available noninvasive recording and imaging techniques have hindered so far the acquisition of precise, comprehensive four-dimensional maps of human neural activity. The present study combines anatomical and functional data from intracerebral recordings of nearly 100 patients, to generate highly resolved four-dimensional maps of human cortical processing of nonpainful somatosensory stimuli. These maps indicate that the human somatosensory system devoted to the hand encompasses a widespread network covering more than 10% of the cortical surface of both hemispheres. This network includes phasic components, centered on primary somatosensory cortex and neighboring motor, premotor, and inferior parietal regions, and tonic components, centered on opercular and insular areas, and involving human parietal rostroventral area and ventral medial-superior-temporal area. The technique described opens new avenues for investigating the neural basis of all levels of cortical processing in humans.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy; Istituto di Neuroscienze, Consiglio nazionale delle Ricerche, 43125 Parma, Italy; pietro.avanzini@gmail.com giacomo.rizzolatti@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Avanzini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Section, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, 52428 Julich, Germany;
authors.forename: Rouhollah O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
authors.affiliation: Centro per la chirurgia dell'Epilessia "Claudio Munari," Ospedale Ca'Granda-Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy;
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.affiliation: Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 43125 Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caruana
authors.affiliation: Centro per la chirurgia dell'Epilessia "Claudio Munari," Ospedale Ca'Granda-Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy;
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pelliccia
authors.affiliation: Centro per la chirurgia dell'Epilessia "Claudio Munari," Ospedale Ca'Granda-Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy;
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casaceli
authors.affiliation: Centro per la chirurgia dell'Epilessia "Claudio Munari," Ospedale Ca'Granda-Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy;
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.affiliation: Centro per la chirurgia dell'Epilessia "Claudio Munari," Ospedale Ca'Granda-Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy;
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lo Russo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy; Istituto di Neuroscienze, Consiglio nazionale delle Ricerche, 43125 Parma, Italy; Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 43125 Parma, Italy pietro.avanzini@gmail.com giacomo.rizzolatti@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rizzolatti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy;
authors.forename: Guy A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Orban
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D000069279:Drug Resistant Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: cerebral cortex; intracranial recordings; median nerve; stereo-EEG; temporal dynamics