Association Between Somatosensory Sensitivity and Regional Gray Matter Volume in Healthy Young Volunteers: a Voxel-based Morphometry Study

Overview

Journal Cereb Cortex

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2022 May 17

PMID 35580840

Authors

Hideaki Onishi

Kazuaki Nagasaka

Hirotake Yokota

Sho Kojima

Ken Ohno

Noriko Sakurai

Naoki Kodama

Daisuke Sato

Naofumi Otsuru

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Two-point discrimination (2PD) test reflects somatosensory spatial discrimination ability, but evidence on the relationship between 2PD and cortical gray matter (GM) volume is limited. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between cortical GM volume and 2PD threshold in young healthy individuals and to clarify the characteristics of brain structure reflecting the individual differences in somatosensory function. 2PD was measured in 42 healthy (20 females) volunteers aged 20-32 years using a custom-made test system that can be controlled by a personal computer. The 2PD of the right index finger measured with this device has been confirmed to show good reproducibility. T1-weighted images were acquired using a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner for voxel-based morphometry analysis. The mean 2PD threshold was 2.58 ± 0.54 mm. Whole-brain multiple regression analysis of the relationship between 2PD and GM volume showed that a lower 2PD threshold (i.e. better somatosensory function) significantly correlated with decreased GM volume from the middle temporal gyrus to the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in the contralateral hemisphere. In conclusion, a lower GM volume in the middle temporal gyrus and IPL correlates with better somatosensory function. Thus, cortical GM volume may be a biomarker of somatosensory function.

Citing Articles

Beta resting-state functional connectivity predicts tactile spatial acuity.

Sasaki R, Kojima S, Otsuru N, Yokota H, Saito K, Shirozu H Cereb Cortex. 2023; 33(16):9514-9523.

PMID: 37344255 PMC: 10431746. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad221.

References

Van Boven R, Ingeholm J, Beauchamp M, Bikle P, Ungerleider L . Tactile form and location processing in the human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005; 102(35):12601-5. PMC: 1188260. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0505907102. View

Wacker E, Spitzer B, Lutzkendorf R, Bernarding J, Blankenburg F . Tactile motion and pattern processing assessed with high-field FMRI. PLoS One. 2011; 6(9):e24860. PMC: 3174219. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024860. View

Gomez L, Dooley J, Sokoloff G, Blumberg M . Parallel and Serial Sensory Processing in Developing Primary Somatosensory and Motor Cortex. J Neurosci. 2021; 41(15):3418-3431. PMC: 8051688. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2614-20.2021. View

Maguire E, Gadian D, Johnsrude I, Good C, Ashburner J, Frackowiak R . Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000; 97(8):4398-403. PMC: 18253. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.070039597. View

Pomares F, Funck T, Feier N, Roy S, Daigle-Martel A, ceko M . Histological Underpinnings of Grey Matter Changes in Fibromyalgia Investigated Using Multimodal Brain Imaging. J Neurosci. 2016; 37(5):1090-1101. PMC: 6596849. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2619-16.2016. View

Yokota H, Otsuru N, Kikuchi R, Suzuki R, Kojima S, Saito K . Establishment of optimal two-point discrimination test method and consideration of reproducibility. Neurosci Lett. 2019; 714:134525. DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134525. View

Ploran E, Nelson S, Velanova K, Donaldson D, Petersen S, Wheeler M . Evidence accumulation and the moment of recognition: dissociating perceptual recognition processes using fMRI. J Neurosci. 2007; 27(44):11912-24. PMC: 6673371. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3522-07.2007. View

Gerber P, Schlaffke L, Heba S, Greenlee M, Schultz T, Schmidt-Wilcke T . Juggling revisited - a voxel-based morphometry study with expert jugglers. Neuroimage. 2014; 95:320-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.04.023. View

Takeuchi H, Taki Y, Sassa Y, Hashizume H, Sekiguchi A, Fukushima A . Working memory training using mental calculation impacts regional gray matter of the frontal and parietal regions. PLoS One. 2011; 6(8):e23175. PMC: 3160301. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023175. View

10.

Rushworth M, Taylor P . TMS in the parietal cortex: updating representations for attention and action. Neuropsychologia. 2006; 44(13):2700-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.12.007. View

11.

Terumitsu M, Ikeda K, Kwee I, Nakada T . Participation of primary motor cortex area 4a in complex sensory processing: 3.0-T fMRI study. Neuroreport. 2009; 20(7):679-83. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832a1820. View

12.

Pastor M, Day B, Macaluso E, Friston K, Frackowiak R . The functional neuroanatomy of temporal discrimination. J Neurosci. 2004; 24(10):2585-91. PMC: 6729480. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4210-03.2004. View

13.

Inui K, Wang X, Tamura Y, Kaneoke Y, Kakigi R . Serial processing in the human somatosensory system. Cereb Cortex. 2004; 14(8):851-7. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhh043. View

14.

Draganski B, Gaser C, Busch V, Schuierer G, Bogdahn U, May A . Neuroplasticity: changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature. 2004; 427(6972):311-2. DOI: 10.1038/427311a. View

15.

Dugue L, Merriam E, Heeger D, Carrasco M . Specific Visual Subregions of TPJ Mediate Reorienting of Spatial Attention. Cereb Cortex. 2017; 28(7):2375-2390. PMC: 5998954. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx140. View

16.

Takeuchi H, Maruyama T, Taki Y, Motoki K, Jeong H, Kotozaki Y . Effects of training of shadowing and reading aloud of second language on working memory and neural systems. Brain Imaging Behav. 2020; 15(3):1253-1269. PMC: 8286220. DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00324-4. View

17.

Chechlacz M, Rotshtein P, Humphreys G . Neuroanatomical Dissections of Unilateral Visual Neglect Symptoms: ALE Meta-Analysis of Lesion-Symptom Mapping. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012; 6:230. PMC: 3415822. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00230. View

18.

Maruyama T, Takeuchi H, Taki Y, Motoki K, Jeong H, Kotozaki Y . Effects of Time-Compressed Speech Training on Multiple Functional and Structural Neural Mechanisms Involving the Left Superior Temporal Gyrus. Neural Plast. 2018; 2018:6574178. PMC: 5838482. DOI: 10.1155/2018/6574178. View

19.

van Kemenade B, Seymour K, Wacker E, Spitzer B, Blankenburg F, Sterzer P . Tactile and visual motion direction processing in hMT+/V5. Neuroimage. 2013; 84:420-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.004. View

20.

Schmidt-Wilcke T, Wulms N, Heba S, Pleger B, Puts N, Glaubitz B . Structural changes in brain morphology induced by brief periods of repetitive sensory stimulation. Neuroimage. 2017; 165:148-157. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.016. View