The organization and connections of somatosensory cortex in marmosets

Abstract

Microelectrode mapping methods were used to define and describe 3 representations of the body surface in somatosensory cortex of marmosets: S-I proper or area 3b of anterior parietal cortex, S-II, and the parietal ventral area (PV) of the upper bank of the lateral sulcus. In the same animals, injections of anatomical tracers were placed into electrophysiologically determined sites in area 3b or S-II. Mapping results and patterns of connections were later related to architectonic fields that were delimited in sections cut parallel to the surface of manually flattened cortex and stained for myelin. There were several major results. (1) Recordings from area 3b revealed a characteristic somatotopic organization of foot to face in a mediolateral sequence as previously reported in other members of the marmoset family (Carlson et al., 1986). (2) Multiple injections of WGA-HRP in area 3b demonstrated dense, patchy interconnections with ipsilateral S-II, PV, area 3a, and area 1, less dense interconnections with primary motor cortex (M-I), the supplementary motor area (SMA), limbic cortex of the medial wall (L), and rostrolateral parietal cortex of the lateral sulcus (PR), and callosal connections with areas 3b, S-II, and PV. Injections of 3 different tracers into the representation of 3 body regions in area 3b indicated that the connections with areas 3a, 3b, 1, S-II, and PV are topographically organized. (3) Recordings from cortex on the upper bank of the lateral sulcus demonstrated a somatotopic representation of the body surface that matches that of S-II of other mammals. S-II immediately adjoined areas 3b along the dorsal lip of the lateral sulcus. The face representation in S-II was adjacent to the face representation in 3b while the trunk, hindlimb, and forelimb were represented in a caudorostral sequence deeper in the sulcus. (4) Injections in S-II revealed ipsilateral connections with areas 3a, 3b, 1, a presumptive area 2, PV, PR, M-I, SMA, limbic cortex, the frontal eye fields, and the frontal ventral visual area. Dense callosal connections were with S-II and PV. (5) The recordings also revealed a systematic representation just rostral to S-II that has not been previously described in primates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)