The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 77 No. 3 March 1997, pp. 1656-1662
Copyright ©1997 The American Physiological Society

RAPID COMMUNICATION

Neuronal Encoding of Texture Changes in the Primary and the Secondary Somatosensory Cortical Areas of Monkeys During Passive Texture Discrimination

Wan Jiang¹, François Tremblay^{1, 3}, and C. Elaine Chapman^{1, 2}

Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, ¹ Département de Physiologie and ² École de Réadaptation, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec; and ³ École des Sciences de la Réadaptation, Université d'Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Jiang, Wan, François Tremblay, and C. Elaine Chapman. Neuronal encoding of texture changes in the primary and the secondary somatosensory cortical areas of monkeys during passive texture discrimination. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 1656-1662, 1997. Two rhesus monkeys were trained to discriminate, with the use of passive touch, a standard surface [rectangular arrays of raised dots with a spatial period (SP) of 2 mm across the rows and columns] from three modified surfaces in which the SP between rows was increased to 3, 4, or 5 mm over the second half of the surface. After the surface presentation (to digit tips 3 and 4 of one hand) the monkeys indicated the presence or absence of a change in texture by pulling or pushing a lever, respectively, with the opposite hand. Of 193 neurons recorded from primary somatosensory cortex (SI, 3 hemispheres) and 94 neurons from secondary somatosensory cortex (SII, 1 hemisphere), all contralateral to the stimulated hand, the discharge of 51 SI and 19 SII neurons was classified as texture related. Two types of texture-related responses were obtained. Graded neurons showed a linear relationship between mean discharge frequency and SP; nongraded neurons showed a significant change in discharge over the modified half of the surfaces but the discharge did not distinguish between the three modified surfaces. The distribution of these texture responses was significantly different in SI and SII: whereas most of the texture-related neurons in SI (44 of 51, 86%) were graded, the majority of those in SII (12 of 19, 63%) were nongraded. The results were interpreted as suggesting that the nongraded responses reflect feature extraction in SII, signaling the presence of a change in texture but not its magnitude, and so support the notion that texture signals are processed sequentially, first in SI and then in SII.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E.-M. Meftah, S. Bourgeon, and C. E. Chapman Instructed Delay Discharge in Primary and Secondary Somatosensory Cortex Within the Context of a Selective Attention Task J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2009; 101(5): 2649 - 2667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Lewis, W. J. Talkington, N. A. Walker, G. A. Spirou, A. Jajosky, C. Frum, and J. A. Brefczynski-Lewis Human Cortical Organization for Processing Vocalizations Indicates Representation of Harmonic Structure as a Signal Attribute J. Neurosci., February 18, 2009; 29(7): 2283 - 2296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. M. Friedman, L. M. Chen, and A. W. Roe Responses of Areas 3b and 1 in Anesthetized Squirrel Monkeys to Single- and Dual-Site Stimulation of the Digits J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2008; 100(6): 3185 - 3196. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Depeault, E.-M. Meftah, and C. E. Chapman Tactile Speed Scaling: Contributions of Time and Space J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2008; 99(3): 1422 - 1434. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Roy, P. N. Steinmetz, S. S. Hsiao, K. O. Johnson, and E. Niebur Synchrony: A Neural Correlate of Somatosensory Attention J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2007; 98(3): 1645 - 1661. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Bertaux, M. Lewandowski, and S. Derler Relationship between Friction and Tactile Properties for Woven and Knitted Fabrics Textile Research Journal, June 1, 2007; 77(6): 387 - 396. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. J. Fitzgerald, J. W. Lane, P. H. Thakur, and S. S. Hsiao Receptive field properties of the macaque second somatosensory cortex: representation of orientation on different finger pads. J. Neurosci., June 14, 2006; 26(24): 6473 - 6484. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. J. Fitzgerald, J. W. Lane, P. H. Thakur, and S. S. Hsiao Receptive field (RF) properties of the macaque second somatosensory cortex: RF size, shape, and somatotopic organization. J. Neurosci., June 14, 2006; 26(24): 6485 - 6495. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. E. Chapman and E.-M. Meftah Independent Controls of Attentional Influences in Primary and Secondary Somatosensory Cortex J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2005; 94(6): 4094 - 4107. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Padberg, E. Disbrow, and L. Krubitzer The Organization and Connections of Anterior and Posterior Parietal Cortex in Titi Monkeys: Do New World Monkeys Have an Area 2? Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2005; 15(12): 1938 - 1963. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Schwartz, F. Assal, N. Valenza, M. L. Seghier, and P. Vuilleumier Illusory persistence of touch after right parietal damage: neural correlates of tactile awareness Brain, February 1, 2005; 128(2): 277 - 290. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. J. Fitzgerald, J. W. Lane, P. H. Thakur, and S. S. Hsiao Receptive Field Properties of the Macaque Second Somatosensory Cortex: Evidence for Multiple Functional Representations J. Neurosci., December 8, 2004; 24(49): 11193 - 11204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Hoshi and J. Tanji Differential Roles of Neuronal Activity in the Supplementary and Presupplementary Motor Areas: From Information Retrieval to Motor Planning and Execution J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2004; 92(6): 3482 - 3499. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E.-M. Meftah, J. Shenasa, and C. E. Chapman Effects of a Cross-Modal Manipulation of Attention on Somatosensory Cortical Neuronal Responses to Tactile Stimuli in the Monkey J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2002; 88(6): 3133 - 3149. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Harris, I. M. Harris, and M. E. Diamond The Topography of Tactile Working Memory J. Neurosci., October 15, 2001; 21(20): 8262 - 8269. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Gamzu and E. Ahissar Importance of Temporal Cues for Tactile Spatial- Frequency Discrimination J. Neurosci., September 15, 2001; 21(18): 7416 - 7427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. J. Cascio and K. Sathian Temporal Cues Contribute to Tactile Perception of Roughness J. Neurosci., July 15, 2001; 21(14): 5289 - 5296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Harris, I. M. Harris, and M. E. Diamond The Topography of Tactile Learning in Humans J. Neurosci., February 1, 2001; 21(3): 1056 - 1061. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Salimi, T. Brochier, and A. M. Smith Neuronal Activity in Somatosensory Cortex of Monkeys Using a Precision Grip. II. Responses to Object Texture and Weights J Neurophysiol, February 1, 1999; 81(2): 835 - 844. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]