Zhang Qi, Yang Yang, Wang Zhemeng, Zhou Jiayue, Gao Runshi, Yang Xingyi, Li Siwei, Yu Tao, Zhou Jin, Wang Changyong
School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2025 Jul 24;19:1621383. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1621383. eCollection 2025.
Tactile imagery involves the reconstruction of sensory experiences without actual tactile input. While tactile perception and imagery exhibit similar spatial patterns of neural activation, the underlying neural dynamics, particularly cortical communications within the parietal network, remain unclear.
The present study recruited 5 patients with implanted stereo-electroencephalography (sEEG) electrodes and recorded sEEG data during texture scanning and imagery. Local neural representations and interregional communications among parietal cortical regions were analyzed.
Opposing modulation patterns of local time-frequency representations were observed, with inhibited neural synchronization during texture scanning and activated synchronization during texture imagery. Consistently, the directional communication from the somatosensory cortex to the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) was found to be suppressed for scanning but enhanced for imagery. Additionally, bidirectional communication between the supramarginal gyrus and precuneus was activated during imagery but not scanning, suggesting a unique pathway for reconstructing tactile experiences.
Our findings proposed that while texture perception and imagery engage overlapping cortical regions, their mechanisms underlying local encoding and interregional communication are distinct.
触觉意象涉及在无实际触觉输入的情况下对感觉体验的重建。虽然触觉感知和意象表现出相似的神经激活空间模式，但潜在的神经动力学，特别是顶叶网络内的皮层通信，仍不清楚。
本研究招募了5名植入立体脑电图（sEEG）电极的患者，并在纹理扫描和意象过程中记录sEEG数据。分析了顶叶皮层区域之间的局部神经表征和区域间通信。
观察到局部时频表征的相反调制模式，在纹理扫描期间神经同步受到抑制，而在纹理意象期间同步被激活。一致地，发现从体感皮层到后顶叶皮层（PPC）的定向通信在扫描时受到抑制，但在意象时增强。此外，在意象期间而非扫描期间，缘上回和楔前叶之间的双向通信被激活，这表明存在一条重建触觉体验的独特途径。
我们的研究结果表明，虽然纹理感知和意象涉及重叠的皮层区域，但其局部编码和区域间通信的机制是不同的。
