Rapid changes in brainstem maps of adult primates after peripheral injury.

Cerebral cortical maps in adult primates reorganize within minutes-hours after peripheral injuries, but subcortical versus intracortical contributions to this rapid reorganization remain controversial. The present results show that injury of nerves to the hands of adult monkeys triggers rapid (minutes-hours) changes in maps of the hand in the brainstem main cuneate nucleus. These findings suggest that peripheral injury causes an initial concurrent reorganization of brainstem and cortical substrates and that early sensory changes emerge from reorganization involving multiple central levels.