COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

Attention to touch modulates activity in both primary and secondary somatosensory areas

Johansen-Berg, Heidi1,2,3; Christensen, Vasthi1,2; Woolrich, Mark1; Matthews, Paul M.1

Author Information

1Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB), Dept of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, OX3 9DU

2Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD

3Corresponding Author, Heidi Johansen-Berg

Received 11 January 2000; accepted 8 February 2000

Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Wellcome Trust (H.J.B.) and the Medical Research Council (P.M.M.). Thanks to S. Smith and M. Jenkinson for assistance with image analysis and to V. Walsh for helpful comments on the manuscript.

NeuroReport 11(6):p 1237-1241, April 27, 2000.

Abstract

We used fMRI to establish whether attention to touch enhances somatosensory cortical activity. Subjects received somatosensory and visual stimulation and were instructed to attend selectively to one modality during alternating stimulus detection periods interspersed with rest periods during which no stimulus was delivered. The maximum signal change for each task versus rest was measured in anatomically defined regions of interest for each subject. Attended touch produced greater signal change than unattended touch in primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex. In contrast to the conclusions of some previous studies, we found that the enhancement of activation with attention was at least as great in S1 as in S2. The attentional effect was unilateral in S1 and bilateral in S2 and the somatosensory insula.

© 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

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