Referred facial sensation on the hand after full face transplantation.

Abstract

Using a single patient case study, we aimed to look at the interaction between full face transplantation and subsequent somatosensory representation in the cortex. We present a patient with full face transplantation who has recovered primary sensory modalities. The patient also has facial sensations such as touch perception in sensory examinations of the hands and fingers. fMRI findings show interactions between the cortical representations of the face and hand. This phenomenon is one of the well-known referred sensations and reveals how face transplantation relates to cortical plasticity.