Our findings suggest that peripheral autonomic denervation is associated with grey matter loss in cortical regions encompassing areas that we have previously shown are functionally involved in generation and representation of bodily states of autonomic arousal. The nature of these changes cannot be determined from morphometric analysis alone, but we suggest that they reflect experience-dependent change consequent upon loss of afferent input to brain regions involved in representation of autonomic states.
Critchley, H.D. and Good, C.D. and Ashburner, J. and Frackowiak, R.S. and Mathias, C.J. and Dolan, R.J. (2003) Changes in cerebral morphology consequent to peripheral autonomic denervation. NeuroImage, 18 (4). pp.908 - 916. ISSN 10538119