Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: SF Chinese (ID:kexuejiaodian), author: SF

Through modern brain imaging technology, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered the "body-body interface" in the cerebral motor cortex, which is distributed between previously discovered areas that control precise movement in different positions of the body. it not only participates in motion planning, but also has a strong functional connection with physiological responses such as blood pressure and heartbeat. The paper was published in the journal Nature.

Wen Jing | Wen Jing

Picture: pixabay.com

"practices such as meditation are really helpful for anxious people, but there is not much scientific evidence of how it works. And now we have found a physical and mental connection." Said Evan Gordon, lead author of the paper and assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Rewriting of the brain Map in the 1930s, neurosurgery expert Wilder Penfield (Wilder Perfield) found that the control areas in the motor cortex and sensory cortex correspond to the parts of the body they dominate by applying low-level electrical stimulation to the exposed brains of patients undergoing brain surgery and recording their responses. Three specific effector regions in the motor cortex of the brain that control feet, hands and mouth are identified.

Unlike the classic Penfield brain Map, the new study finds that each specific effector region follows a "concentric" structure rather than a linear correspondence. For example, for a specific effector area that controls the foot, the distal part of the body (such as the toe) is located in the center of the area, surrounded by concentric rings of the more proximal part of the body (ankle-knee-hip).

Penfield's "brain map" (a) and the new study's "brain map" (b); image source: Nature connects networks associated with a variety of mental disorders, and more crucially, in addition to the three specific effector regions that Penfield found, there are three other seemingly thinner interconnected regions. Although they are not active in the process of exercise, they become active when people think about sports-related things.

Compared to specific effector regions, these three areas are more closely related to the buckle cover network (Cingulo-Opercular Network, abbreviated "CON"). CON is responsible for thinking, planning, arousal, pain and controlling internal organs and functions (such as blood pressure and heart rate) in the brain, which is considered to be related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental disorders.

The new research has greatly enriched the brain's physical and mental regulatory network, which the team named the "somatosensory-cognitive activity network" (Somato-Cognitive Action Network, abbreviated as "SCAN").

"A system that balances and pre-adjusts the body is very important for integrating action goals and physiological states," Gordon said. " SCAN provides the basis for this integration, which regulates posture, breathing, cardiovascular activity and body arousal in preparation for action (such as shoulder tension, increased heart rate or "butterflies flying in the stomach"). The discovery that movement and body control are integrated in a common loop may help explain why there is such a close and frequent interaction between body and mind.

A comparison of secret evolutionary research teams found that monkeys have a smaller, more basic system. "this may be a simpler system that combines exercise with physiology to avoid fainting when standing up. But as we evolve into more complex organisms that require thinking and planning, the system upgrades and adds a lot of very complex cognitive elements." Gordon said.

The team also found that SCAN could not be detected in newborns, but was clearly visible in 1-and 9-year-olds.

It is believed that the development of human embryos restores the process of human evolution. Although this is not rigorous, many places corresponding to a particular stage of human evolution can be found in the process of personal growth. The acquisition of SCAN may be one of them.

If the new research method is popularized, it can not only explore the secrets of human evolution, but also explore the evolution process of many species by mapping the brain maps of many kinds of animals.

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