Cell Reports
Volume 28, Issue 11, 10 September 2019, Pages 2748-2756.e4
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Report
Organized Toe Maps in Extreme Foot Users

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.08.027Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • We ask if extreme behavior can cause the (re)emergence of somatotopic maps

  • We investigated two foot artists, born without arms

  • 7T fMRI shows individuated maps of up to 5 toes in the artists but not controls

  • Activity in artists’ foot and hand areas was more “hand-like” than in controls

Summary

Although the fine-grained features of topographic maps in the somatosensory cortex can be shaped by everyday experience, it is unknown whether behavior can support the expression of somatotopic maps where they do not typically occur. Unlike the fingers, represented in all primates, individuated toe maps have only been found in non-human primates. Using 1-mm resolution fMRI, we identify organized toe maps in two individuals born without either upper limb who use their feet to substitute missing hand function and even support their profession as foot artists. We demonstrate that the ordering and structure of the artists’ toe representation mimics typical hand representation. We further reveal “hand-like” features of activity patterns, not only in the foot area but also similarly in the missing hand area. We suggest humans may have an innate capacity for forming additional topographic maps that can be expressed with appropriate experience.

Keywords

adaptive
amputees
deprivation
ecological behavior
fMRI
hand
plasticity
reorganization
sensorimotor
somatotopy

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5

These authors contributed equally

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