Body map proto-organization in newborn macaques
Topographic sensory maps are a prominent feature of the adult primate brain. Here, we asked whether topographic representations of the body are present at birth. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we find that the newborn somatomotor system, spanning frontoparietal cortex and subcortex, comprises multiple...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 116; no. 49; pp. 24861 - 24871 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
03.12.2019
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Topographic sensory maps are a prominent feature of the adult primate brain. Here, we asked whether topographic representations of the body are present at birth. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we find that the newborn somatomotor system, spanning frontoparietal cortex and subcortex, comprises multiple topographic representations of the body. The organization of these large-scale body maps was indistinguishable from those in older monkeys. Finer-scale differentiation of individual fingers increased over the first 2 y, suggesting that topographic representations are refined during early development. Last, we found that somatomotor representations were unchanged in 2 visually impaired monkeys who relied on touch for interacting with their environment, demonstrating that massive shifts in early sensory experience in an otherwise anatomically intact brain are insufficient for driving cross-modal plasticity. We propose that a topographic scaffolding is present at birth that both directs and constrains experience-driven modifications throughout somatosensory and motor systems. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Author contributions: M.J.A., P.F.S., and M.S.L. designed research; M.J.A., P.F.S., and M.S.L. performed research; M.J.A. analyzed data; and M.J.A. and M.S.L. wrote the paper. Edited by Peter L. Strick, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, and approved October 24, 2019 (received for review July 24, 2019) |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1912636116 |