Functional mapping of sensorimotor activation in the human thalamus at 9.4 Tesla

Autor: Edyta Charyasz, Rahel Heule, Francesko Molla, Michael Erb, Vinod Jangir Kumar, Wolfgang Grodd, Klaus Scheffler, Jonas Bause
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol 17 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1662-453X
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1116002
Popis: Although the thalamus is perceived as a passive relay station for almost all sensory signals, the function of individual thalamic nuclei remains unresolved. In the present study, we aimed to identify the sensorimotor nuclei of the thalamus in humans using task-based fMRI at a field strength of 9.4T by assessing the individual subject-specific sensorimotor BOLD response during a combined active motor (finger-tapping) and passive sensory (tactile-finger) stimulation. We demonstrate that both tasks increase BOLD signal response in the lateral nuclei group (VPL, VA, VLa, and VLp), and in the pulvinar nuclei group (PuA, PuM, and PuL). Finger-tapping stimuli evokes a stronger BOLD response compared to the tactile stimuli, and additionally engages the intralaminar nuclei group (CM and Pf). In addition, our results demonstrate reproducible thalamic nuclei activation during motor and tactile stimuli. This work provides important insight into understanding the function of individual thalamic nuclei in processing various input signals and corroborates the benefits of using ultra-high-field MR scanners for functional imaging of fine-scale deeply located brain structures.
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