Reorganization of the primary motor cortex of adult macaque monkeys after sensory loss resulting from partial spinal cord injuries.

Abstract

Long-term injuries to the dorsal columns of the spinal cord at cervical levels result in large-scale somatotopic reorganization of the somatosensory areas of the cortex and the ventroposterior nucleus of the thalamus. As a result of this reorganization, intact inputs from the face expand into the deafferented hand representations. Dorsal column injuries also result in permanent deficits in the use of digits for precision grip and a loss of fractionated movements of the digits. We determined whether the chronic loss of sensory inputs and the behavioral deficits caused by lesions of the dorsal columns in adult macaque monkeys affect organization of the motor cortex. The results show that, in the primary motor cortex, intracortical microstimulation evokes extension-flexion movements of the thumb at significantly fewer sites compared with the normal monkeys. There is a corresponding increase in the adduction-abduction movements. Furthermore, there is a significant increase in the thresholds of the currents required to evoke movements of the digits. Thus, long-term sensory loss in adult monkeys does not change the overall topography of the movement representation in the motor cortex but results in changes in the details of movement representations.