SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX & THALAMUS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 目的：虽然第5区一直被认为是专门处理躯体输入的顶后区，但我们在新大陆和东半球的实验室以及其他实验室的最新证据表明，这个皮质区域也参与了视觉输入的处理，并与运动系统密切相关。越来越多的证据表明，第5区可能是一个关键的“中央规划器”，用于监测预期的伸展和抓握过程中肢体的位置，将感觉位置转换为有意运动的运动坐标，以及感知身体在额外个人空间中的运动。本研究的目的是确定后顶区5在视觉引导和非视觉引导的伸展和抓取、物体操纵、双手的双侧协调以及大脑两个半球的信息传递中的作用。这项研究是首次尝试将现代神经解剖学、电生理学和损毁技术结合起来，以确定参与产生复杂手部使用的单一皮质场的贡献。此外，这是为数不多的利用电生理学和神经解剖学技术检查皮质损伤后发生的长期皮质变化并随后进行行为训练的研究之一。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Objective: While area 5 has been considered a posterior parietal field involved exclusively in processing somatic inputs, recent evidence from our laboratory in both New World and Old World monkeys, as well as work from other laboratories, indicate that this cortical area is also involved in processing visual inputs, and is closely associated with the motor system. Accumulating evidence indicates that area 5 may be a "central planner" critical for monitoring limb location during intended reaching and grasping, converting sensory locations into motor coordinates for intentional movement, and in perceiving the movements of the body in extra personal space. The goal of the present investigation is to determine the role of posterior parietal area 5 in visually guided and non-visually guided reaching and grasping, object manipulation, bilateral coordination of the hands, and information transfer across the cerebral hemispheres. This study represents one of the first attempts to combine modern neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, and lesioning techniques to determine the contribution of a single cortical field involved in generating sophisticated hand use. Further, it is one of the few studies that utilizes electrophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques to examine the long-term cortical changes that occur after cortical damage, followed by behavioral training.