美国斯坦福大学Francis R. Willett小组研制了人体中央前回全身图像的拼接。2026年6月17日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。

在这里，课题组以单个神经元分辨率创建了人类运动皮层的综合地图，跨越了来自20个阵列的微电极阵列记录，这些记录来自8个脊髓损伤、肌萎缩侧索硬化症或脑干中风的瘫痪患者，所有这些患者都参加了脑机接口临床试验。这些阵列广泛地采样了中央前回（PCG，被认为主要由运动前皮层组成）的顶部。小组发现身体部位是高度混杂的，因此在PCG的所有采样位置都代表了整个身体，尽管身体部位的相对强度与运动侏儒大致一致。

该课题组人员还发现了两个语言优先区，它们之间有一个广泛调节的、面部主导的区域。在整个PCG中，他们四肢的运动表征是相互关联的，不同肢体的同源运动（例如，脚趾卷曲和手闭合）具有相关表征。这些数据为运动皮层的混合、相互关联和以行为为中心的组织提供了一致的证据。所得到的图谱也为寻求恢复运动功能的脑机接口提供了重要的目标信息。

研究人员表示，了解身体如何在运动皮层中表现出来是理解大脑如何控制运动的关键。虽然运动皮层已经在动物模型中以精细的尺度绘制出来了，但在人类身上的表征仍然主要局限于低分辨率的记录和刺激技术。

附：英文原文

Title: A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus

Author: Deo, Darrel R., Okorokova, Elizaveta V., Pritchard, Anna L., Hahn, Nick V., Card, Nicholas S., Nason-Tomaszewski, Samuel R., Jude, Justin, Hosman, Thomas, Choi, Eun Young, Qiu, Deqiang, Meng, Yuguang, Wairagkar, Maitreyee, Nicolas, Claire, Kamdar, Foram B., Iacobacci, Carrina, Acosta, Alexander, Hochberg, Leigh R., Cash, Sydney S., Williams, Ziv M., Rubin, Daniel B., Brandman, David M., Stavisky, Sergey D., AuYong, Nicholas, Pandarinath, Chethan, Downey, John E., Bensmaia, Sliman J., Henderson, Jaimie M., Willett, Francis R.

Issue&Volume: 2026-06-17

Abstract: Understanding how the body is represented in the motor cortex is key to understanding how the brain controls movement. Although the motor cortex has been mapped in animal models at a fine scale1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, characterization in humans remains primarily limited to low-resolution recording11,12,13,14,15,16 and stimulation techniques17,18,19,20. Here we created a comprehensive map of the human motor cortex at single-neuron resolution, spanning microelectrode array recordings from 20 arrays across 8 individuals with paralysis from spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or brainstem stroke, all enrolled in brain–computer interface clinical trials. These arrays broadly sample the crown of the precentral gyrus (PCG; thought to be composed largely of the premotor cortex (Brodmann area 6)). We found that body parts were highly intermixed, such that the entire body was represented in all sampled locations of the PCG, although the relative strength of body parts was roughly consistent with the motor homunculus17,18. We also found two speech-preferential areas with a broadly tuned, orofacial-dominant area in between them. Throughout the PCG, movement representations of the four limbs were interlinked, with homologous movements of different limbs (for example, toe curl and hand close) having correlated representations. These data provide evidence consistent with an intermixed, interrelated and behaviour-centred organization of the motor cortex3,21. The resulting map also provides important targeting information for brain–computer interfaces that seek to restore motor function.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10653-x

期刊信息

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504

官方网址：http://www.nature.com/

投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html