Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2019
Journal
eLife
Volume
8
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.7554/eLife.37227
Abstract
© Lukinova et al. A key question in neuroscience is how cortical organisation relates to experience. Previously we showed that amputees experiencing highly vivid phantom sensations maintain cortical representation of their missing hand (Kikkert et al., 2016). Here, we examined the role of sensory hand experience on persistent hand representation by studying individuals with acquired and congenital hand loss. We used representational similarity analysis in primary somatosensory and motor cortex during missing and intact hand movements. We found that key aspects of acquired amputees’ missing hand representation persisted, despite varying vividness of phantom sensations. In contrast, missing hand representation of congenital one-handers, who do not experience phantom sensations, was significantly reduced. Across acquired amputees, individuals’ reported motor control over their phantom hand positively correlated with the extent to which their somatosensory hand representation was normally organised. We conclude that once cortical organisation is formed, it is remarkably persistent, despite long-term attenuation of peripheral signals.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Notes
Copyright Wesselink et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited
This article originally published at https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.37227