The secondary somatosensory cortex gates mechanical and heat sensitivity

Daniel G. Taub, Qiufen Jiang, Francesca Pietrafesa, Junfeng Su, Aloe Carroll, Caitlin Greene, Michael R. Blanchard, Aakanksha Jain, Mahmoud El-Rifai, Alexis Callen, Katherine Yager, Clara Chung, Zhigang He, Chinfei Chen and Clifford J. Woolf ()
Additional contact information
Daniel G. Taub: Boston Children’s Hospital
Qiufen Jiang: Boston Children’s Hospital
Francesca Pietrafesa: Boston Children’s Hospital
Junfeng Su: Boston Children’s Hospital
Aloe Carroll: Northeastern University
Caitlin Greene: Boston Children’s Hospital
Michael R. Blanchard: Harvard Medical School
Aakanksha Jain: Boston Children’s Hospital
Mahmoud El-Rifai: Harvard Medical School
Alexis Callen: Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College
Katherine Yager: Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College
Clara Chung: Boston University
Zhigang He: Boston Children’s Hospital
Chinfei Chen: Boston Children’s Hospital
Clifford J. Woolf: Boston Children’s Hospital

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract The cerebral cortex is vital for the processing and perception of sensory stimuli. In the somatosensory axis, information is received primarily by two distinct regions, the primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortices. Top-down circuits stemming from S1 can modulate mechanical and cooling but not heat stimuli such that circuit inhibition causes blunted perception. This suggests that responsiveness to particular somatosensory stimuli occurs in a modality specific fashion and we sought to determine additional cortical substrates. In this work, we identify in a mouse model that inhibition of S2 output increases mechanical and heat, but not cooling sensitivity, in contrast to S1. Combining 2-photon anatomical reconstruction with chemogenetic inhibition of specific S2 circuits, we discover that S2 projections to the secondary motor cortex (M2) govern mechanical and heat sensitivity without affecting motor performance or anxiety. Taken together, we show that S2 is an essential cortical structure that governs mechanical and heat sensitivity.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45729-7

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