Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Front Neural Circuits. 2019 Jan 15;12:118. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2018.00118. eCollection 2018.
Methods of functional connectivity are applied ubiquitously in studies involving non-invasive whole-brain signals, but may be not optimal for exploring the propagation of the steady-state responses, which are strong oscillatory patterns of neurodynamics evoked by periodic stimulation. In our study, we explore a functional network underlying the somatosensory steady-state response using methods of effective connectivity. Human magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data were collected in 10 young healthy adults during 23-Hz vibro-tactile stimulation of the right hand index finger. The whole-brain dynamics of MEG source activity was reconstructed with a linearly-constrained minimum variance beamformer. We applied information-theoretic tools to quantify asymmetries in information flows between primary somatosensory area SI and the rest of the brain. Our analysis identified a pattern of coupling, leading from area SI to a source in the secondary somato-sensory area SII, thalamus, and motor cortex all contralateral to stimuli as well as to a source in the cerebellum ipsilateral to the stimuli. Our results support previously reported empirical evidence collected both in and , indicating critical areas of activation of the somatosensory system at the level of systems neuroscience.
方法的功能连接无处不在的研究涉及非侵入性的全脑信号，但可能不是最优的探索传播的稳态响应，这是强烈的振荡模式的神经动力学诱发的周期性刺激。在我们的研究中，我们探索了一个功能网络的基础上体感稳态反应使用方法的有效连接。人的脑磁图（MEG）数据收集了 10 名年轻健康成年人在 23 赫兹振动触觉刺激右手食指。整个大脑的动力学的 MEG 源活动重建了一个线性约束最小方差波束形成器。我们应用信息论工具来量化信息在主感觉区 SI 和大脑其余部分之间的流动的不对称性。我们的分析确定了一种耦合模式，从区域 SI 到次级感觉区 SII、丘脑和运动皮层的一个源，这些源都与刺激对侧的小脑同侧的源相对应。我们的结果支持了先前在和中报道的经验证据，表明了体感系统在系统神经科学水平上的关键激活区域。
