Receptive field progressions in an adult rat.

<p>Progressions of recording sites in S1 in an adult rat (left in A) and corresponding receptive fields for neurons at those sites (right in A). Numbered sites in the cortex correspond to numbered receptive fields on the body. Receptive fields are shaded grey. In adults, the topographic organization is precise and consistent across animals. As recording sites progress from medial to lateral in the caudal portion of S1 (sites 1–4) corresponding receptive fields move from the tail, lower trunk to upper trunk. The hindpaw (5–7) and forepaw (8–10) have corresponding progression from toes 5–1 and digits 5–1, respectively. Compare this figure with the full map of the body illustrated in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032322#pone-0032322-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a>. B) Representative trace of cortical activity in response to stimulation of digits of the contralateral digit 4 (top left) in an adult rat. In the top left drawing of the forepaw, each digit is labeled with its corresponding number, and the receptive field on dorsal digit 4 is shaded in grey. In the bottom left is a schematic of S1 with the recording site marked with an open circle (scale = 1 mm). A trace of multi-unit activity is located to the right of the forepaw schematic. Tic marks represent the temporal pattern of stimulation. Peri-event histograms, labeled with their corresponding digit, show the increase in the amount of cortical activity in the 1 second surrounding digit stimulation.