Optical Imaging of Mechanical Nociception in SI Cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案旨在研究初级躯体感觉皮层（SI）中机械伤害感受的皮层表征。SI皮层被认为在处理伤害性信息的感觉辨别方面起作用。然而，3a、3b和1的区域中的每一个如何参与伤害感受尚不清楚。我们假设机械性疼痛和压力在SI的特定区域中表现不同。本研究采用内光学成像与电生理学相结合的方法，在麻醉猴中研究：1）哪些皮层区域参与了伤害感受的感觉方面的处理，疼痛和触觉的感觉方面是否在相同或不同的皮层区域中表现，以及在哪个区域中，激活的幅度与伤害感受刺激的强度相关，以及2）伤害性感受是否被地形图表示，以及皮层伤害性感受响应如何与区域3a、3b和1中的每一个中的触摸地形图相关。这项研究将提供深入了解伤害性信息的感觉方面是如何编码在SI的每个领域。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal aims to study the cortical representation of mechanical nociception in primary somatosensory cortex (SI). SI cortex has been proposed to play a role in processing sensory-discriminative aspect of nociceptive information. However, how each of the Areas of 3a, 3b and 1 are involved in nociception is not known. We have hypothesized that mechanical pain and pressure are differently represented in specific areas of SI. Using combined intrinsic optical imaging with electrophysiological methods, we will examine in anesthetized monkey 1) what cortical areas are involved in processing the sensory aspect of nociception, whether the sensory aspects of pain and touch are represented in the same or different cortical areas, and in which area, the amplitude of activation correlates with the intensity of nociceptive stimuli, and 2) whether nociception is topographically represented, and how cortical nociceptive responses relate to the topography of touch in each of Areas 3a, 3b and 1. This study will provide insights into how sensory aspects of nociceptive information are encoded in each area of SI.