Science, Vol 237, Issue 4813, 417-420
Copyright © 1987 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
Physiological evidence for serial processing in somatosensory cortex
TP Pons,
PE Garraghty,
DP Friedman,
and
M Mishkin
Removal of the representation of a specific body part in the postcentral cortex of the macaque resulted in the somatic deactivation of the corresponding body part in the second somatosensory area. In contrast, removal of the entire second somatosensory area had no grossly detectable effect on the somatic responsivity of neurons in the postcentral cortex. This direct electrophysiological evidence for serial cortical processing in somesthesia is similar to that found earlier for vision and, taken together with recent anatomical evidence, suggests that there is a common cortical plan for the processing of sensory information in the various sensory modalities.
