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Unmyelinated tactile afferents have opposite effects on insular and somatosensory cortical processing

Unmyelinated tactile afferents have opposite effects on insular and somatosensory cortical processing
Unmyelinated tactile afferents have opposite effects on insular and somatosensory cortical processing
A previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of an A-beta deafferented subject (GL) showed that stimulation of tactile C afferents (CT) activates insular cortex whereas no activation was seen in somatosensory cortices. Psychophysical studies suggested that CT afferents contribute to affective but not to discriminative aspects of tactile stimulation. We have now examined cortical processing following CT stimulation in a second similarly deafferented subject (IW), as well as revisited the data from GL. The results in IW showed similar activation of posterior insular cortex following CT stimulation as in GL and so strengthen the view that CT afferents underpin emotional aspects of touch. In addition, CT stimulation evoked significant fMRI deactivation in somatosensory cortex in both subjects supporting the notion that CT is not a system for discriminative touch.
c-fiber, touch, insular cortex, neuropathy, functional magnetic resonance imaging
0304-3940
128-132
Olausson, Håkan W.
518f8fdd-0d28-40e7-b9b1-55a44c5d6df4
Cole, Jonathan
d119a5ba-9ca3-43db-9d98-950ca225655d
Vallbo, Ake
306f6edd-3b0c-4302-b22f-3d8653606ac1
McGlone, Francis
8cba8720-5850-427c-94d1-65aef54d7b5c
Elam, Mikae
0ee659c9-6eb8-428d-8d41-3fe3be7db9e5
Kramer, Heidrun H.
5e426dca-091c-40a4-8d2d-579d55f163c4
Rylander, Karin
ec834d49-8ad6-43e1-b84f-91045f41368c
Wessberg, Johan
37be0317-3b4b-458b-b58e-4368d202d4f5
Bushnell, M. Catherine
a0645d21-9d97-4665-974d-92fec0be584f
Olausson, Håkan W.
518f8fdd-0d28-40e7-b9b1-55a44c5d6df4
Cole, Jonathan
d119a5ba-9ca3-43db-9d98-950ca225655d
Vallbo, Ake
306f6edd-3b0c-4302-b22f-3d8653606ac1
McGlone, Francis
8cba8720-5850-427c-94d1-65aef54d7b5c
Elam, Mikae
0ee659c9-6eb8-428d-8d41-3fe3be7db9e5
Kramer, Heidrun H.
5e426dca-091c-40a4-8d2d-579d55f163c4
Rylander, Karin
ec834d49-8ad6-43e1-b84f-91045f41368c
Wessberg, Johan
37be0317-3b4b-458b-b58e-4368d202d4f5
Bushnell, M. Catherine
a0645d21-9d97-4665-974d-92fec0be584f

Olausson, Håkan W., Cole, Jonathan, Vallbo, Ake, McGlone, Francis, Elam, Mikae, Kramer, Heidrun H., Rylander, Karin, Wessberg, Johan and Bushnell, M. Catherine (2008) Unmyelinated tactile afferents have opposite effects on insular and somatosensory cortical processing. Neuroscience Letters, 436 (2), 128-132. (doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.03.015). (PMID:18395979)

Record type: Article

Abstract

A previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of an A-beta deafferented subject (GL) showed that stimulation of tactile C afferents (CT) activates insular cortex whereas no activation was seen in somatosensory cortices. Psychophysical studies suggested that CT afferents contribute to affective but not to discriminative aspects of tactile stimulation. We have now examined cortical processing following CT stimulation in a second similarly deafferented subject (IW), as well as revisited the data from GL. The results in IW showed similar activation of posterior insular cortex following CT stimulation as in GL and so strengthen the view that CT afferents underpin emotional aspects of touch. In addition, CT stimulation evoked significant fMRI deactivation in somatosensory cortex in both subjects supporting the notion that CT is not a system for discriminative touch.

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Published date: 9 May 2008
Keywords: c-fiber, touch, insular cortex, neuropathy, functional magnetic resonance imaging

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Local EPrints ID: 149111
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/149111
ISSN: 0304-3940
PURE UUID: 5b95c7e9-e084-4d56-b514-98eec4c3b21f

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Date deposited: 29 Apr 2010 15:47
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:05

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Contributors

Author: Håkan W. Olausson
Author: Jonathan Cole
Author: Ake Vallbo
Author: Francis McGlone
Author: Mikae Elam
Author: Heidrun H. Kramer
Author: Karin Rylander
Author: Johan Wessberg
Author: M. Catherine Bushnell

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