On the Geometry of Somatosensory Representations in the Cortex

It is well-known that cortical areas specializing in the processing of somatosensory information from different parts of the body are arranged in an orderly manner along the cortex. It is also generally accepted that in the cortex, somatosensory information is initially processed in the primary somatosensory cortex and from there, it is hierarchically processed in other cortical regions. Previous studies have focused on the organization of representation at a level of a single or few cortical regions, identifying multiple body maps. However, the question of the large-scale organization of these different maps, and their relation to the hierarchical organization has received little attention. This is primarily because the highly convoluted shape of the cortical surface makes it difficult to characterize the relationship between cortical areas that are centimeters apart. Here, we used functional MRI to characterize cortical responses to full-body light touch stimulation. Our results indicate that the organization of both body representation and hierarchy is radial, with a small number of extrema that reign over a large number of cortical regions. Quantitatively computing the local relationship between the gradients of body and hierarchy maps, we show that the interaction between these two radial geometries, body representation and hierarchy in S1 are approximately orthogonal. However, this orthogonality is restricted to S1. Similar organizational patterns in the visual and auditory systems suggest that radial topography may be a common feature across sensory systems. Significance statement The sensation of touch on our skin is represented in the brain as a map, where body parts are organized sequentially from head to toe. In the cerebral cortex, multiple body maps are distributed across numerous regions, processing signals at different hierarchical levels. Is there a large-scale organization of these body maps in the cerebral cortex? We show that all previously known body maps and their hierarchies are organized with a radial geometry. Similar radial geometry may also characterize the visual and auditory systems, indicating that radial geometry is a common organizational principle of sensory processing in the cortex.