Somatosensory cortex of the neonatal pig: II. Topographic organization of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII)

Multiunit microelectrode recording techniques were used to delineate the somatotopic organization of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) of the neonatal pig. Barbiturate anesthetized piglets ranging in age from 7 days preterm to 2 months postpartum were used. The SII area, located lateral to the rostral and middle suprasylvian sulci, was found to contain a complete somatotopic representation of the contralateral body surface with a significant proportion of bilateral input for all body regions except the forehoof and forelimb. The SII forelimb and hindlimb representations were found to possess a “striplike” orientation in a rostral to caudal sequence, and the trunk representation was located posterolateral to the hindlimb representation, giving SII an inverted appearance. Two apparently separate face representations were delineated; one posterolateral to the projection from the trunk and the other anterior to the forehoof region.

Unlike SI, which possesses a disproportionately large representation of the rostrum, SII has no specialized representation of the rostrum. The overall organization of SII supports the contention that this cortical region provides a more generalized representation of the entire body surface than does SI.