ArticleBrain communications2020
The 'creatures' of the human cortical somatosensory system.
Article in Brain communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
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- REM-sleep twitching in adults and the maintenance of specialized sensorimotor systems.Current biology : CB · 2026Review
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- Characterization of the Central Sulcus Pli-De-Passage Fronto-Pariétal Moyen in > 1000 Human Brains.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Physiotherapist assisted wrist movement protocol for EEG-based corticokinematic coherence assessment.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Preliminary evaluation and reliability of the Italian adaptation of the dichotic digit test in adults and children.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2025Article
- The cost of language: functionally over-dominant language circuits in the human brain may limit cognitive abilities and non-verbal executive functions.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- The Locus Coeruleus in Chronic Pain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify cortical loci for lower limb movements and their efficacy for individuals after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Stretch marks: a visible expression of connective's involvement in autism spectrum disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Cortical field maps across human sensory cortex.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2023Review
- Variation in the rate of recovery in motor function between the upper and lower limbs in patients with stroke: some proposed hypotheses and their implications for research and practice.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Brain Connectivity Predicts Chronic Pain in Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.Annals of neurology · 2022Article
- Somatosensory Evoked Potentials Reveal Reduced Embodiment of Emotions in Autism.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2022Article
- Somatotopic Arrangement of the Human Primary Somatosensory Cortex Derived From Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Penfield's description of the 'homunculus', a 'grotesque creature' with large lips and hands and small trunk and legs depicting the representation of body-parts within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), is one of the most prominent contributions to the neurosciences. Since then, numerous studies have identified additional body-parts representations outside of S1. Nevertheless, it has been implicitly assumed that S1's homunculus is representative of the entire somatosensory cortex. Therefore, the distribution of body-parts representations in other brain regions, the property that gave Penfield's homunculus its famous 'grotesque' appearance, has been overlooked. We used whole-body somatosensory stimulation, functional MRI and a new cortical parcellation to quantify the organization of the cortical somatosensory representation. Our analysis showed first, an extensive somatosensory response over the cortex; and second, that the proportional representation of body parts differs substantially between major neuroanatomical regions and from S1, with, for instance, much larger trunk representation at higher brain regions, potentially in relation to the regions' functional specialization. These results extend Penfield's initial findings to the higher level of somatosensory processing and suggest a major role for somatosensation in human cognition.
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