BRAIN IMAGING

fMRI activations of SI and SII cortices during tactile stimulation depend on attention

Hämäläinen, Heikki1,2,3; Hiltunen, Jaana2; Titievskaja, Irina1

Author Information

1Department of Psychology, University of Turku, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland

2Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Turku, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland

3Corresponding Author: Heikki Hämäläinen

Acknowledgements: We thank Maria Ek, M.A., for skilled technical assistance, and Dr Matti Laine, Ph.D. for invaluable comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by University of Turku, Turku University Central Hospital, and Academy of Finland (grant 37873 to H.H.).

Received 22 February 2000; accepted 13 March 2000

NeuroReport 11(8):p 1673-1676, June 5, 2000.

Abstract

Somatosensory cortical areas are widely studied with new functional imaging techniques, but usually with poor control over the attentional state of subjects. We applied fMRI to determine possible changes in activations of these areas due to modulations of attention. Attention induced large regional changes, mostly enlargements of activated areas, and more of those at SII than at SI. The number of instances where activation was only seen in attend conditions was also larger at SII than at SI. These results show the importance of controlling the attentional state of the subjects in imaging studies, and give evidence of the different roles of SI and SII cortices in the somatosensory system.

© 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Full Text Access for Subscribers:

Not a Subscriber?

Buy
Request Permissions

You can read the full text of this article if you:

Access through Ovid