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Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury
Neuroplastic changes in somatotopic organization within the motor and somatosensory systems have long been observed. The interruption of afferent and efferent brain–body pathways promotes extensive cortical reorganization. Changes are majorly related to the typical homuncular organization of sensori...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6947607/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817187 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm8122144 |
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author | Leemhuis, Erik De Gennaro, Luigi Pazzaglia, Mariella |
author_facet | Leemhuis, Erik De Gennaro, Luigi Pazzaglia, Mariella |
author_sort | Leemhuis, Erik |
collection | PubMed |
description | Neuroplastic changes in somatotopic organization within the motor and somatosensory systems have long been observed. The interruption of afferent and efferent brain–body pathways promotes extensive cortical reorganization. Changes are majorly related to the typical homuncular organization of sensorimotor areas and specific “somatotopic interferences”. Recent findings revealed a relevant peripheral contribution to the plasticity of body representation in addition to the role of sensorimotor cortices. Here, we review the ways in which structures and brain mechanisms react to missing or critically altered sensory and motor peripheral signals. We suggest that these plastic events are: (i) variably affected across multiple timescales, (ii) age-dependent, (iii) strongly related to altered perceptual sensations during and after remapping of the deafferented peripheral area, and (iv) may contribute to the appearance of secondary pathological conditions, such as allodynia, hyperalgesia, and neuropathic pain. Understanding the considerable complexity of plastic reorganization processes will be a fundamental step in the formulation of theoretical and clinical models useful for maximizing rehabilitation programs and resulting recovery. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6947607 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-69476072020-01-13 Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury Leemhuis, Erik De Gennaro, Luigi Pazzaglia, Mariella J Clin Med Perspective Neuroplastic changes in somatotopic organization within the motor and somatosensory systems have long been observed. The interruption of afferent and efferent brain–body pathways promotes extensive cortical reorganization. Changes are majorly related to the typical homuncular organization of sensorimotor areas and specific “somatotopic interferences”. Recent findings revealed a relevant peripheral contribution to the plasticity of body representation in addition to the role of sensorimotor cortices. Here, we review the ways in which structures and brain mechanisms react to missing or critically altered sensory and motor peripheral signals. We suggest that these plastic events are: (i) variably affected across multiple timescales, (ii) age-dependent, (iii) strongly related to altered perceptual sensations during and after remapping of the deafferented peripheral area, and (iv) may contribute to the appearance of secondary pathological conditions, such as allodynia, hyperalgesia, and neuropathic pain. Understanding the considerable complexity of plastic reorganization processes will be a fundamental step in the formulation of theoretical and clinical models useful for maximizing rehabilitation programs and resulting recovery. MDPI 2019-12-04 /pmc/articles/PMC6947607/ /pubmed/31817187 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm8122144 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Perspective Leemhuis, Erik De Gennaro, Luigi Pazzaglia, Mariella Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title | Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title_full | Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title_fullStr | Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title_full_unstemmed | Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title_short | Disconnected Body Representation: Neuroplasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury |
title_sort | disconnected body representation: neuroplasticity following spinal cord injury |
topic | Perspective |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6947607/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817187 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm8122144 |
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