Open AccessAltered Somatosensory Cortical Activity Is Associated with Cortical Thickness in Adults with Cerebral Palsy: Multimodal Evidence from MEG/sMRI
Author(s) -
Michael P. Trevarrow,
Brandon J. Lew,
Rashelle M. Hoffman,
Brittany K. Taylor,
Tony W. Wilson,
Max J. Kurz
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cerebral cortex
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.694
H-Index - 250
eISSN - 1460-2199
pISSN - 1047-3211
DOI - 10.1093/cercor/bhab293
Subject(s) - somatosensory system , magnetoencephalography , neuroscience , somatosensory evoked potential , psychology , cerebral cortex , stimulation , cerebral palsy , secondary somatosensory cortex , medicine , functional magnetic resonance imaging , cortex (anatomy) , magnetic resonance imaging , sensory stimulation therapy , electroencephalography , physical medicine and rehabilitation , radiology
Somatosensory cortical activity is altered in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). However, previous studies have focused on the lower extremities in children with CP and have given less attention to structural changes that may contribute to these alterations. We used a multimodal neuroimaging approach to investigate the relationship between somatosensory cortical activity and cortical thickness in 17 adults with CP (age = 32.8 ± 9.3 years) and 18 healthy adult controls (age = 30.7 ± 9.8 years). Participants performed a median nerve paired-pulse stimulation paradigm while undergoing magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate somatosensory cortical activity and sensory gating. Participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate cortical thickness within the area of the somatosensory cortex that generated the MEG response. We found that the somatosensory responses were attenuated in the adults with CP (P = 0.004). The adults with CP also hypergated the second stimulation (P = 0.030) and had decreased cortical thickness in the somatosensory cortex (P = 0.015). Finally, the strength of the somatosensory response was significantly correlated with the cortical thickness (P = 0.023). These findings demonstrate that the aberrant somatosensory cortical activity in adults with CP extends to the upper extremities and appears to be related to cortical thickness.