Preserved cortical somatotopic and motor representations in tetraplegic humans

A rich literature has documented changes in cortical representations of the body in somatosensory and motor cortex. Recent clinical studies of brain–machine interfaces designed to assist paralyzed patients have afforded the opportunity to record from and stimulate human somatosensory, motor, and action-related areas of the posterior parietal cortex. These studies show considerable preserved structure in the cortical somato-motor system. Motor cortex can immediately control assistive devices, stimulation of somatosensory cortex produces sensations in an orderly somatotopic map, and the posterior parietal cortex shows a high-dimensional representation of cognitive action variables. These results are strikingly similar to what would be expected in a healthy subject, demonstrating considerable stability of adult cortex even after severe injury and despite potential plasticity-induced new activations within the same region of cortex. Clinically, these results emphasize the importance of targeting cortical areas for BMI control signals that are consistent with their normal functional role.     

Social neuroscience: mirror neurons recorded in humans

New single-cell recordings show that humans do have mirror neurons, and in more brain regions than previously suspected. Some action-execution neurons were seen to be inhibited during observation, possibly preventing imitation and helping self/other discrimination.     

Hierarchical processing of auditory objects in humans

This work examines the computational architecture used by the brain during the analysis of the spectral envelope of sounds, an important acoustic feature for defining auditory objects. Dynamic causal modelling and Bayesian model selection were used to evaluate a family of 16 network models explaining functional magnetic resonance imaging responses in the right temporal lobe during spectral envelope analysis. The models encode different hypotheses about the effective connectivity between Heschl's Gyrus (HG), containing the primary auditory cortex, planum temporale (PT), and superior temporal sulcus (STS), and the modulation of that coupling during spectral envelope analysis. In particular, we aimed to determine whether information processing during spectral envelope analysis takes place in a serial or parallel fashion. The analysis provides strong support for a serial architecture with connections from HG to PT and from PT to STS and an increase of the HG to PT connection during spectral envelope analysis. The work supports a computational model of auditory object processing, based on the abstraction of spectro-temporal “templates” in the PT before further analysis of the abstracted form in anterior temporal lobe areas.     

RAD51 haploinsufficiency causes congenital mirror movements in humans

Congenital mirror movements (CMM) are characterized by involuntary movements of one side of the body that mirror intentional movements on the opposite side. CMM reflect dysfunctions and structural abnormalities of the motor network and are mainly inherited in an autosomal-dominant fashion. Recently, heterozygous mutations in DCC, the gene encoding the receptor for netrin 1 and involved in the guidance of developing axons toward the midline, have been identified but CMM are genetically heterogeneous. By combining genome-wide linkage analysis and exome sequencing, we identified heterozygous mutations introducing premature termination codons in RAD51 in two families with CMM. RAD51 mRNA was significantly downregulated in individuals with CMM resulting from the degradation of the mutated mRNA by nonsense-mediated decay. RAD51 was specifically present in the developing mouse cortex and, more particularly, in a subpopulation of corticospinal axons at the pyramidal decussation. The identification of mutations in RAD51, known for its key role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks through homologous recombination, in individuals with CMM reveals a totally unexpected role of RAD51 in neurodevelopment. These findings open a new field of investigation for researchers attempting to unravel the molecular pathways underlying bimanual motor control in humans.     

Toroidal mirror system

A study is made of a toroidally linked mirror system with a zero rotational transform and a three-dimensional magnetic field that ensures good confinement of charged particles. A toroidally linked magnetic mirror configuration at low plasma pressures is calculated by numerically solving the isometry equation for the magnetic field to second order in the small parameter of the paraxial approximation. The calculations carried out with the VMEC code for a particular linked magnetic mirror configuration demonstrate the possibility of achieving good confinement of drifting particles. The calculated results show that it is, in principle, possible to link mirror cells into a toroidal configuration capable of providing plasma confinement at a tokamak level.     

Activation of duration-sensitive auditory cortical fields in humans

The influence of stimulus duration on auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) was examined for tones varying randomly in duration, location, and frequency in an auditory selective attention task. Stimulus duration effects were isolated as duration difference waves by subtracting AEPs to short duration tones from AEPs to longer duration tones of identical location, frequency and rise time. This analysis revealed that AEP components generally increased in amplitude and decreased in latency with increments in signal duration, with evidence of longer temporal integration times for lower frequency tones. Different temporal integration functions were seen for different N1 subcomponents. The results suggest that different auditory cortical areas have different temporal integration times, and that these functions vary as a function of tone frequency.     

Glycoconjugates in the mammalian auditory system

Cell-surface glycoconjugates, such as proteoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycosphingolipids have been suggested to serve important functions in hearing because of their variety and their specific expression patterns during the development and maturation of cochlea. However, there has been no definitive proof regarding their involvement in auditory functions. In this study, we provide an overview of the expression of glycoconjugates in auditory systems and consider their possible involvement in hearing functions. We include our recent findings regarding deafness in ganglioside (sialic acid containing glycosphingolipids)-deficient mice, and address the importance of functional glycobiology in auditory systems.     

Functionally homologous representation of vocalizations in the auditory cortex of humans and macaques

1. Download : Download high-res image (228KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Sensorimotor learning configures the human mirror system

Cells in the "mirror system" fire not only when an individual performs an action but also when one observes the same action performed by another agent [1-4]. The mirror system, found in premotor and parietal cortices of human and monkey brains, is thought to provide the foundation for social understanding and to enable the development of theory of mind and language [5-9]. However, it is unclear how mirror neurons acquire their mirror properties -- how they derive the information necessary to match observed with executed actions [10]. We address this by showing that it is possible to manipulate the selectivity of the human mirror system, and thereby make it operate as a countermirror system, by giving participants training to perform one action while observing another. Before this training, participants showed event-related muscle-specific responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation over motor cortex during observation of little- and index-finger movements [11-13]. After training, this normal mirror effect was reversed. These results indicate that the mirror properties of the mirror system are neither wholly innate [14] nor fixed once acquired; instead they develop through sensorimotor learning [15, 16]. Our findings indicate that the human mirror system is, to some extent, both a product and a process of social interaction.     

Possible overlapping potentials of the auditory P50 in humans: factor analysis of middle latency auditory evoked potentials

The auditory P50 in humans may consist of overlapping potentials. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the conditions of stimulus discrimination and motor response difficulty and evaluated the data by factor analysis. Twenty right-handed males (mean age 27 years) performed the following 4 tasks: (1) a counting task, (2) an easy Go, No-Go task, (3) a difficult Go, No-Go task, and (4) a choice reaction task. Middle latency auditory evoked potentials were obtained with 100 times summation triggered by the onset of the auditory stimulus. Four factors were extracted by factor analysis for a 0–100 ms time period. Factor 1, the maximum factor loading at 91 ms, corresponded to N1, and factor 4, the maximum factor loading at 23 ms, appeared to correspond to P30. The latency of the maximum factor loading in factor 2 was adjacent to that in factor 3, the latency of factor 2 being 12 ms earlier than that of factor 3. Factor 2 and factor 3 latencies were approximately 55 ms which corresponded to the P50. Factor 3 started rising at the point that factor 2 reached the maximum factor loading, and the factor score demonstrated a significant group difference only when analyzed by motor response criteria. These results suggest that the P50 in humans consists of overlapping potentials and that a part of the potential might relate to a motor response process.     

The mirror system and its role in social cognition

Experiments in monkeys have shown that coding the goal of the motor acts is a fundamental property of the cortical motor system. In area F5, goal-coding motor neurons are also activated by observing motor acts done by others (the 'classical' mirror mechanism); in area F2 and area F1, some motor neurons are activated by the mere observation of goal-directed movements of a cursor displayed on a computer screen (a 'mirror-like' mechanism). Experiments in humans and monkeys have shown that the mirror mechanism enables the observer to understand the intention behind an observed motor act, in addition to the goal of it. Growing evidence shows that a deficit in the mirror mechanism underlies some aspects of autism.     

Assembly of the dorsal horn somatotopic map

We hypothesize: (a) peripheral innervation densities determine map scales in dorsal horn, (b) dorsal horn cell (DHC) receptive field (RF) geometries are determined by map scales, and (c) morphologies of primary afferents (PAs) and DHCs reflect their developmental history. We suggest the following sequence: (A) PAs project in a somatotopic mediolateral sequence. (B) DHCs assemble prototype RFs by sampling presynaptic neuropil with their dendrites. (C) PAs then project to all levels where their RFs are contained within prototype RFs of DHCs. (D) A competitive mechanism produces the adult form of DHC RFs. (E) Adult distributions of PA terminals and DHC dendrites reflect this developmental history. (F) Mediolateral somatotopic gradients are determined by RF densities of axons entering at the same levels. (G) Map scales at different rostrocaudal levels are determined by somatotopic gradients. (H) Geometries of DHC RFs are determined by constant convergence and divergence of monosynaptic connections. (I) Secondary processes further modify geometries of DHC RFs. (J) Residual self-organizing capacity supports maintenance and plastic mechanisms. We adduce the following evidence: (1) agreement between monosynaptically coupled inputs and cells' excitatory low threshold mechanoreceptive fields; (2) the temporal sequence of events during penetration of the gray matter by PAs; (3) variation of PA terminal and DHC dendritic domains as a function of map scale; (4) somatotopic gradients and geometries of DHC RFs in adult dorsal horn; (5) calculations of peripheral innervation densities and dorsal horn map scales; and (6) constant divergence and convergence between PAs and DHCs.     

Extending the mirror neuron system model,I

The paper introduces mirror neuron system II (MNS2), a new version of the MNS model (Oztop and Arbib in Biol Cybern 87 (2):116–140, 2002) of action recognition learning by mirror neurons of the macaque brain. The new model uses a recurrent architecture that is biologically more plausible than that of the original model. Moreover, MNS2 extends the capacity of the model to address data on audio-visual mirror neurons and on the response of mirror neurons when the target object was recently visible but is currently hidden.     

Schema design and implementation of the grasp-related mirror neuron system

 Mirror neurons within a monkey's premotor area F5 fire not only when the monkey performs a certain class of actions but also when the monkey observes another monkey (or the experimenter) perform a similar action. It has thus been argued that these neurons are crucial for understanding of actions by others. We offer the hand-state hypothesis as a new explanation of the evolution of this capability: the basic functionality of the F5 mirror system is to elaborate the appropriate feedback – what we call the hand state– for opposition-space based control of manual grasping of an object. Given this functionality, the social role of the F5 mirror system in understanding the actions of others may be seen as an exaptation gained by generalizing from one's own hand to an other's hand. In other words, mirror neurons first evolved to augment the “canonical” F5 neurons (active during self-movement based on observation of an object) by providing visual feedback on “hand state,” relating the shape of the hand to the shape of the object. We then introduce the MNS1 (mirror neuron system 1) model of F5 and related brain regions. The existing Fagg–Arbib–Rizzolatti–Sakata model represents circuitry for visually guided grasping of objects, linking the anterior intraparietal area (AIP) with F5 canonical neurons. The MNS1 model extends the AIP visual pathway by also modeling pathways, directed toward F5 mirror neurons, which match arm–hand trajectories to the affordances and location of a potential target object. We present the basic schemas for the MNS1 model, then aggregate them into three “grand schemas”– visual analysis of hand state, reach and grasp, and the core mirror circuit – for each of which we present a useful implementation (a non-neural visual processing system, a multijoint 3-D kinematics simulator, and a learning neural network, respectively). With this implementation we show how the mirror system may learnto recognize actions already in the repertoire of the F5 canonical neurons. We show that the connectivity pattern of mirror neuron circuitry can be established through training, and that the resultant network can exhibit a range of novel, physiologically interesting behaviors during the process of action recognition. We train the system on the basis of final grasp but then observe the whole time course of mirror neuron activity, yielding predictions for neurophysiological experiments under conditions of spatial perturbation, altered kinematics, and ambiguous grasp execution which highlight the importance of the timingof mirror neuron activity. Received: 6 August 2001 / Accepted in revised form: 5 February 2002