Functional EEG Assessment of Face Transplantation

Abstract

Extensive traumatic loss of functional and composite structures of the face (skin, muscles, nerves, and bones) results in significant reorganization of the primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (S1) cortex. The first near-total US face transplant offers a unique opportunity to study the relearning process of integrating cortical representations of motor and sensory functions which were lost over a 5-year period following the patient’s initial trauma. Using the functional EEG technique, we have found that trauma-induced cortical reorganization and associated loss of functions can gradually be reversed following face transplantation. The relearning of lost facial function governed by the somatosensory cortex confirms cortical plasticity and adaptation to the newly acquired functions. The restored functions in the transplant patient were found in the same areas of the motor cortex as in normal controls.