FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEM

该研究提出了三个长期目标。研究将 包括新世界枭猴，它们具有明显技术优势， 旧大陆猕猴，与人类关系更密切。1)一个主要 目标是更好地了解组织 身体感觉和运动系统。我们想知道这些 系统分为核心、区域和模块，以及这些核心、区域和模块是如何划分的。 子部分相互连接以形成处理网络。计划 研究将结合联合收割机电生理微电极标测 程序，组织化学结构方法，和多种示踪剂， 连接追踪协议。一项重大努力将是 确定和比较建议的细分的连接 外侧沟的躯体感觉皮层，后顶叶皮层，以及 前运动皮层2)灵长类动物成年可塑性的相关研究将 确定部分剥夺对感觉表征的影响 由于皮质损伤、神经损伤或脊髓损伤。我们 将试图确定神经元生长的贡献， 神经递质调节可塑性的分子标记 神经元重组，轴突乔木和生长的示踪剂，以及 与神经元活性和可塑性相关的分子; 3）其他 研究将检查胎儿和产后早期剥夺的影响， 以及对随后的躯体感觉系统发育的损害， 为了了解发育可塑性的潜力， 以及复杂感觉系统的重组。 三种类型的研究 将提供a）一个详细和全面的感觉运动模型 适用于人类的处理：B）对机制的理解 成年人在躯体感觉系统中的可塑性， 人类的治疗，和c）了解的程度和限制， 发育可塑性，可以指导医疗和指导 患有产前缺陷和产后早期损伤的人。

The proposed research addresses three long term goals. Studies will include New World owl monkeys, which offer clear technical advantages, and Old World macaques, which are more closely related to humans. 1) A major goal is to develop a better understanding of the organization of the somatosensory and motor systems in primates. We want to know how these systems are divided into nuclei, areas, and modules, and how these subdivisions are interconnected to form processing networks. Planned studies will combine electrophysiological microelectrode mapping procedures, histochemical architectonic methods, and multiple tracers in connection-tracing protocols in the same monkeys. A major effort will be to determine and compare connections of proposed subdivisions of somatosensory cortex of the lateral sulcus, posterior parietal cortex, and premotor cortex. 2) Related studies of adult plasticity in primates will determine the effects on sensory representations of partial deprivations as a result of cortical lesions, nerve damage, or spinal cord lesions. We will attempt to determine the contribution of neuronal growth and neurotransmitter regulation in plasticity by using molecular markers of neuron restructuring, tracers of axon-arbors and growth, and markers of molecules associated with neuronal activity and plasticity; 3) Other studies will examine the effects of fetal and early postnatal deprivation and damage on subsequent development of the somatosensory system in monkeys in order to understand the potential for developmental plasticity and reorganization in complex sensory systems. The three types of studies will provide a) a detailed and comprehensive model of sensorimotor processing that applies to humans: b) an understanding of the mechanisms of adult plasticity in the somatosensory system that can guide programs of therapy in humans, and c) an understanding of the extent and limits of developmental plasticity that can guide medical treatment and guidance of humans with prenatal defective and early postnatal injury.