rishma vidyasagar1, Laura Parkes2
1MARIARC, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK; 2School of Cancer and Imaging Sciences, manchester, UK
This study measured induced connectivity in the human brain on S1 between Digit 2 and Digit 4 of the right hand using fMRI. Cortical reorganisation was induced by training subjects on vibrotactile tactors for 3 hours. Subjects were scanned before and after training and cortical representations of the digits were successfully imaged. Significant shifts and overlap of these areas were observed following the training period. This is in accordance with previous animal and human studies. It is postulated that what is observed are changes linked to synchronised synaptic input and can be related to Hebbian mechanisms.