[AFFERENT PROJECTIONS OF MUSCULAR ORIGIN AT THE LEVEL OF THE SENSORI-MOTOR CORTEX IN MONKEYS].
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Dynamic reorganization of functional connections between neurones was observed in the motor cortex of cats in the process of electrodefensive conditioning. At a stable conditioned reflex, an increase of number of functional connections was observed more expressed between the neurones of distant microareas (within the range of 450 mcm investigated). In the process of conditioning sometimes one and the same neurone did not change its network properties within its own microarea but became noticeably activated in relation to the neurones of other microareas. The results obtained confirm the suggestion about a multilevel structure of neuronal integration in the process of learning, the first level consisting of consolidation of neighbouring neurones in the microarea, the second one consisting in consolidation of neurones of neighbouring microareas.
Our experience of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and motor cortex stimulation (MCS) in patients with post-stroke movement disorders and post-stroke pain is reviewed. DBS of the thalamic nuclei ventralis oralis posterior et intermedius proved to be useful in more than 70% of patients with post-stroke involuntary movements (hemiballismus, hemichoreo-athetosis, distal resting and/or action tremor, and proximal postural tremor). The effect of DBS of the thalamic nucleus ventralis caudalis or internal capsule on post-stroke pain was usually disappointing. Excellent pain control can be achieved by MCS in approximately 50% of patients with post-stroke pain. In the course of clinical trials on MCS for the control of post-stroke pain, it was found that co-existent post-stroke involuntary movements (hemichoreo-athetosis and resting tremor) could also be controlled by MCS. Post-stroke involuntary movements, especially those in thalamic syndrome, are sometimes associated with post-stroke pain. In such disorders, involuntary movements are attenuated, but the pain in the same patients is often exacerbated by DBS of the thalamic nuclei ventralis oralis posterior et intermedius. MCS could be the therapy of choice under such circumstances. Subjective improvement of voluntary motor performance, which had been impaired in association with mild or moderate hemiparesis, was reported during MCS by approximately 20% of patients with post-stroke pain. Such an effect on voluntary motor performance appears to be caused by an inhibition of their rigidity. The reversibility of DBS and MCS makes them an important option for the control of post-stroke movement disorders and post-stroke pain.
Two types of stimulus-associated response were recorded in the contralateral motor cortex during performance of a condition reflex consisting of placing the forepaw on a support in response to a short electrical stimulus (4 msec, 500 Hz) applied to the contralateral parietal cortex (field 5). Primary short-latency responses (peak latent period about 10 msec, duration 30-50 msec) showed little sensitivity to the application of AP5, a blocker of glutamate NMDA receptors; secondary long-latency responses (peak latent period 65 msec, duration 150-200 msec) were inhibited in 44% of cases. Excitatory neuron responses associated with movement were inhibited by AP5 in 18% of cases. Increases in the latent period of the movement itself were seen in 19% of cases. AP5 decreased background activity in 46% of background-active neurons. The number of cases in which individual components of the response and neuron background activity were increased and latent periods of movement were decreased after application of AP5 was no more than expected from a random spread of data.
The long-term posttetanic changes of mono- and polysynaptic reactions of the neighbouring neurons in the microareas of the motor cortex were studied before and after conditioning tetanization of different afferent inputs to these neurons. Consecutive or conjoint conditioning of the thalamo-cortical and the cortico-cortical inputs could induce different changes in the efficiency of the synaptic inputs to the neighbouring neurons the effect depending on the modality of the conditioned input, the parameters of tetanization, the pattern of distribution of the afferent terminals on the dendritic tree and the character of the local circuits formed by the neurons under study and connected with them excitatory and inhibitory interneurons. As a result of such changes the new patterns of interneuronal connections could appear and be stable for tens of minutes. It was shown that in the same neuronal network the different types of modifiable synapses could function simultaneously. The results might be used for construction of models of learning and memory.
Specifics of the caudate nucleus effect upon specific and unspecific responses of the cat brain sensory-motor cortex involves an individual inhibition and temporal modulation of unspecific activity of the cortical neurons, whereas specific responses of the same cells remain the same.
The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of thalamic projections of the primary motor cortex (MI) in the raccoon, a carnivore species noted for neural specialization of sensorimotor function. Following electrophysiological identification of circumscribed regions of MI, injections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or HRP combined with tritiated amino acids were made in 15 animals. Labeled thalamic cells were found predominantly in the ventral lateral nucleus (VL). For a given cortical injection site within MI, labeled neurons in VL formed a crescent-shaped band which extended in a dorsoventral direction when viewed in coronal sections. These bands were topographically organized. Following an injection of the MI hindlimb area in the medial part of the posterior cruciate gyrus, both retrogradely labeled neurons and anterograde label formed a thin band at the lateral edge of VL while an injection of the MI face area in the lateral part of the anterior cruciate gyrus resulted in both anterograde and retrograde label in medial VL and the principal division of the ventromedial nucleus (VMp). An injection of the MI forepaw area localized to the rostral and central part of the posterior cruciate gyrus resulted in a band of labeled neurons occupying the dorsal extent of VL and continuing into the ventrolateral aspect of the ventral anterior nucleus (VA). In contrast, an injection of the MI forepaw area which was localized to the caudal extent of the posterior cruciate gyrus resulted in a wide and diffuse band of labeled neurons and anterograde label in the ventral portion of VL. All injection of MI produced cell labeling in the paracentral nucleus (PC) and the central lateral nucleus (CL) of the intralaminar group. These results demonstrate that VL is the primary thalamic dependency of MI in the raccoon. Labeled cells were not observed in the ventrobasal complex. The MI pattern of thalamic connectivity observed in the present study suggests that while differences exist in the regional specialization of sensorimotor structures among species, there appears to be little variation in the overall organization of thalamocortical relations.
OBJECTIVES: Brain plasticity is supposed to allow the compensation of motor function in cases of rolandic lesion. The aim was to analyse the mechanisms of functional reorganisation during surgery in the central area. METHODS: A motor brain mapping was performed in three right handed patients without any neurological deficit, operated on for a slow growing lesion near the rolandic region (two precentral resected under general anaesthesia and one retrocentral removed under local anaesthesia to allow also sensory mapping) using intraoperative direct electrical stimulations (5 mm space tips bipolar stimulator probe, biphasic square wave pulse current: 1 ms/phase, 60 Hz, 4 to 18 mA). RESULTS: For each patient, the motor areas of the hand and forearm in the primary motor cortex (M1) were identified before and after lesion removal with the same stimulation parameters: the same eloquent sites were found, plus the appearance after resection of additional sites in M1 inducing the same movement during stimulations as the previous areas. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple cortical representations for hand and forearm movements in M1 seem to exist. In addition, the results demonstrate the short term capacity of the brain to make changes in local motor maps, by sudden unmasking after tumour resection of a second redundant site participating in the same movement. Finally, it seems not necessary for the whole of the redundant sites to be functional to provide normal movement, a concept with potential implications for surgery within the central region.
1. The impulse activity of single neurones in the motor cortex (MC) was recorded extracellularly, using movable varnish-insulated tungsten microelectrodes, in six adult, freely moving cats. Neuronal activity was recorded while the cats walked on a flat floor, as they stepped over a series of barriers, and as they walked on the flat rungs of a horizontal ladder. The mean discharge rate (mR) and the depth of frequency modulation (dM) in each cell were estimated over 10-100 steps. 2. The activity of ninety-eight MC cells (Including thirteen pyramidal tract neurones (PTNs)) was recorded during stepping over barriers 25 cm apart. The mR in 66% and the dM in 61% of these cells changed by more than 20% during locomotion with barriers compared to locomotion on the flat (an increase was more often the case). 3. The activity of nine cells was recorded during stepping over barriers 12 cm apart, and the activity of twenty-seven cells (including five PTNs) during walking with barriers only 6 cm apart. The mR in 67% and in 59% of the cells, respectively, and the dM in 56% and in 67% of the cells, respectively, were greater in these locomotor tasks than during locomotion on the flat. 4. The activity of twenty cells was recorded during walking and compared in experiments with different distances between barriers. The mR in 50% and the dM in 75% of the neurones progressively increased when the distance between successive barriers was diminished. 5. The discharge rates of thirteen cells were compared in two different locomotor tasks: (i) when the cat stepped over barriers requiring hyperflexion of the limbs and (ii) when it walked on the flat with loads attached to the distal forelimbs causing a hyperactivity of flexor muscles. The activity of nine cells was different during stepping over the barriers compared to locomotion with loadings on the forelimbs. 6. The activity of 108 cells (twenty-four PTNs) was recorded during walking along a horizontal ladder with flat rungs. The mR of 61% and the dM of 72% of cells changed by more than 20% during locomotion on the ladder compared with that on the flat (most often they increased). 7. The position of the peak rate relative to the step cycle did not differ in the majority of cells (in 78-91% depending on the task) during locomotion on the flat, with the barriers or on the ladder.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
1. The impulse activity of single neurones in the motor cortex (MC) was recorded extracellularly using movable varnish-insulated tungsten microelectrodes in four adult freely moving cats. The cats walked inside the experimental box with various loadings in the swing or stance phases of the step cycle. The mean discharge rate (mR) and the depth of frequency modulation (dM) in each neurone were estimated over 10-100 steps. 2. The activity of thirty-one cells (including eighteen pyramidal tract neurones (PTNs)) was recorded during uphill walking on a 10 deg inclined floor. The mR in 68%, and the dM in 77% of neurones changed by less than 20% during uphill locomotion compared to walking on a level surface. 3. The activity of the same neurones was also recorded during downhill walking, also on a 10 deg inclined plane. The mR in 69% and the dM in 78% of neurones changed by less than 20% during downhill locomotion compared with walking on a level surface. 4. The activity of twenty-three (the left hemisphere) cells (sixteen PTNs) during walking with the floor swaying to the right (R) and to the left (L) was compared to activity during locomotion on a stable surface. The mR in 83% and the dM in 83% of cells in R-steps, and in 82 and 77% of cells, respectively, in L-steps changed by less than 20%. 5. The activity of thirty-seven cells was studied during locomotion at various speeds. The mR in 68% and the dM in 38% of cells changed by less than 20% during fast and slow locomotion compared to middle-speed locomotion. The dM in 46% of neurones increased with the transfer from slow to fast walking. 6. The activity of thirty-one MC cells was recorded during locomotion with loads of 85 g attached to the distal part of each elbow. The mR in 52% and the dM in 48% of neurones changed by more than 20%. 7. The activity of twenty-eight cells (six PTNs) was studied in steps when an animal turned. The swing of the limb contralateral to the recorded MC was shorter (condition 1) in turning steps in one direction, and was longer (condition 2) in turning steps in the opposite direction. The mR in 50% and the dM in 50% of cells in condition 1 and in 52% and 59%, respectively, of cells in condition 2 changed by more than 20%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Gap junctions have been found infrequently between two dendrites or a dendrite and a cell soma in the deep layers of both the motor and somatic sensory cortices of the primate. At these junctions the outer leaflets of the plasma membranes of both profiles are intimately apposed with a gap of 2 nm between them which shows a structure of hexagonal subunits in tangential sections. These gap junctions occur mainly between the dendrites or dendrites and somata of large stellate cells but are also associated in some examples with a dendro-dendritic synapse and thus occur between large stellate dendrites and presynaptic dendrites; a desmosome may also occur in association with a gap junction and dendro-dendritic synapse. Gap junctions have been identified as sites of electrical transmission between cells in a number of sites and it is therefore suggested that some neurons in the sensori-motor cortex are electrotonically couples.
Recent studies have provided new insights into the visuomotor functions of the dorsal and ventral regions of the lateral pre-motor cortex. Anatomical and physiological investigations in non-human primates have demonstrated that these regions have differing patterns of cortical connectivity and distinctive neuronal responses. Brain-imaging techniques and lesion studies have begun to probe the functions of homologous regions in humans.
1. Somatosensory afferent input and its relationship with efferent output were examined in the primary face motor cortex (MI) and adjacent cerebral cortical areas. Excitatory afferent inputs were tested in a total of 1,654 single neurons recorded in awake or anesthetized monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), and output was characterized in these same monkeys by the movement and EMG responses evoked by intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) at the neuronal recording sites. 2. Most neurons in the MI area responded to light tactile stimulation of the orofacial region, especially the upper lip, lower lip, and tongue. Although contralateral afferent inputs predominated, 21% of the neurons received ipsilateral or bilateral orofacial inputs. The afferent input evoked by tactile stimulation of the upper and lower lips was represented especially at the medial border and the input from the tongue at the lateral border of MI. However, in most regions of MI between the medial and lateral borders, an intermingling of tactile inputs from different orofacial areas occurred. Multiple representation of tactile input from the same orofacial area was found in several, often quite separate, intracortical sites in MI. 3. Only a small proportion of the MI neurons could be activated by the deep stimuli used (e.g., stretch and pressure applied to muscle, passive jaw movement, low-intensity stimulation of hypoglossal nerve) from the orofacial region. Those neurons which did respond to these low-threshold deep inputs were not clearly segregated from those which responded to tactile input, although most of the neurons receiving deep input were located in the rostral part of MI. 4. A somatotopic pattern of representation of orofacial tactile input was more obvious in the primary face somatosensory cortex (SI). At the medial border of SI, the periorbital area was represented, then followed laterally in sequence the tactile representation of the upper lip, lower lip, and intraoral area. Contralateral afferent inputs predominated, but as in MI, a considerable proportion of SI neurons received ipsilateral or bilateral orofacial inputs. Few neurons in the region explored (areas 3b, 1, and 2) responded to deep orofacial stimuli. 5. Tactile input also dominated the input patterns of neurons in the premotor cortex (PM). Most neurons received ipsilateral or bilateral orofacial afferent inputs and no clear somatotopic pattern was noted. Several PM neurons were also activated by visual stimuli. 6. Muscle twitches evoked by ICMS were limited to MI.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Intracellular recordings and morphological identification of neurons by using intracellular HRP staining were performed in the cat motor cortex. By cerebellar stimulation, stellate cells in layers II-III, pyramidal cells in layer III and fast pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) were activated with short latency and fast rising EPSPs, while pyramidal cells in layer II and slow PTNs showed a wide range of latency and slow rising EPSPs. This difference may be related to activation through the deep and superficial thalamocortical projections.
Handedness is one of the most obvious functional asymmetries, but its relation to an anatomical asymmetry of the hand representation area in the motor cortex has not been demonstrated. This would be a crucial test for the hypothesis of structure-function correlation in cortical motor organization. Using magnetic resonance morphometry, we show for the first time that the depth of the central sulcus is related to handedness. In right-handers, the left central sulcus is deeper than the right, and vice versa in left-handers. Macrostructural asymmetry is complemented by a microstructural left-larger-than-right asymmetry in neuropil volume (i.e., tissue compartment containing dendrites, axons, and synapses) in Brodmann's area 4. These asymmetries suggest that hand preference is associated with increased connectivity (demonstrated by an increased neuropil compartment in left area 4) and an increased intrasulcal surface of the precentral gyrus in the dominant hemisphere.
Paired transcranial magnetic stimulation has greatly advanced our understanding of the mechanisms which control excitability in human motor cortex. While it is clear that paired-pulse excitability depends on the exact interstimulus interval (ISI) between the first (S1) and second stimulus (S2), relatively little is known about the effects of the intensities of S1 and S2, and the effects of manipulating neurotransmission through the GABA(A) receptor. When recording the motor evoked potential (MEP) from the resting abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscle, using a fixed ISI of 1.5 ms, and expressing the interaction between S1 and S2 as MEP(S1+S2)/(MEP(S1) + MEP(S2)), then a systematic variation of the intensities of S1 and S2 revealed short-interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) if S1 and S2 were approximately equal to MEP threshold (RMT), or if S1 > RMT and S2 < RMT. In contrast, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) occurred if S1 < RMT and S2 > RMT. Contraction of the ADM left SICI unchanged but reduced SICF. The GABA(A) receptor agonist diazepam increased SICI and reduced SICF in the resting ADM while diazepam had no effect during ADM contraction. Surface EMG and single motor unit recordings revealed that during ADM contraction SICI onset was at the I3-wave latency of S2, whereas SICF typically "jumped up" by one I-wave and started with the I2-wave latency of S2. Findings suggest that SICI is mediated through a low-threshold GABA(A) receptor-dependent inhibitory pathway and summation of IPSP from S1 and EPSP from S2 at the corticospinal neurone. In contrast, SICF originates through non-synaptic facilitation at the initial axon segment of interneurones along a high-threshold excitatory pathway.
In a first phase of this study, the topographic arrangement of the dentato-thalamocortical projections was analyzed anatomically in albinos rats, by using anterograde and retrograde tracing methods. By applying intracortical microstimuli through the cerebral motor cortex prior to each microinjection of the tracer, the motor function of each injected cortical site was defined. As a consequence of the precise topographic arrangement of the dentato-thalamocortical pathways, we infer a somatotopic motor organization within the three cytoarchitectonic subdivisions of the cerebellar nucleus lateralis (NL), which corresponds to the dentate nucleus of the primate cerebellum: the hindlimb would be poorly represented, rostrally, whereas the head and forelimb would be more widely represented, within the central and caudal parts of the NL. In the second phase, the motor responses to direct microstimulations through the NL were mapped. The results confirmed the anatomofunctional arrangement deduced from the observations made in the first part of the study. The principles of the functional organization of the NL were also defined: i) the synergistic character of the movements induced by dentate stimulation is reflected by the activation of agonist as well as antagonist muscles that combine to move a particular segment of the body; ii) some body segments (e.g. those of the hindlimb) are represented within only one subdivision of the NL (single representation); others, such as the axio-proximal segments of the body, can be activated in a similar way from sites located in two or three subdivisions (multiple representation); finally, distal segments (digits or vibrissae) are multiply represented but activated in different ways by their various representation sites (specific representation): they can be moved independently from the parvocellular subdivision and only synchronously from their other representation site. The parvocellular subdivision of the rat NL is proposed as an equivalent to the "neodentatum" of the primate cerebellum.