Dynamic and Distributed Somatosensory Representations as the Substrate for Cortical and Subcortical Plasticity

Seconds after a cutaneous deafferentation is induced in adult animals, a complex process of plastic reorganization is triggered in the subcortical and cortical structures that form the somatosensory system. This process, which leads to the immediate unmasking of novel neuronal sensory responses, continues to evolve for many weeks and months until most of the neuronal tissue deprived of its original afferent input gains responsiveness to surrounding skin territories. Here, I propose that the existence of dynamic and distributed sensory representations throughout the somatosensory system offers the substrate for the occurrence of immediate plastic remapping of the body surface following either a peripheral injury or a change in sensory experience.