Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Cortical Responses Induced by a Prolonged Tactile Stimulation of the Human Fingertips

Genna, Clara LU ; Oddo, Calogero M. ; Fanciullacci, Chiara ; Chisari, Carmelo ; Jörntell, Henrik LU ; Artoni, Fiorenzo and Micera, Silvestro (2017) In Brain Topography 30(4). p.473-485
Abstract

The sense of touch is fundamental for daily behavior. The aim of this work is to understand the neural network responsible for touch processing during a prolonged tactile stimulation, delivered by means of a mechatronic platform by passively sliding a ridged surface under the subject’s fingertip while recording the electroencephalogram (EEG). We then analyzed: (i) the temporal features of the Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and their topographical distribution bilaterally across the cortex; (ii) the associated temporal modulation of the EEG frequency bands. Long-latency SEP were identified with the following physiological sequence P100—N140—P240. P100 and N140 were bilateral potentials with higher amplitude in the contralateral... (More)

The sense of touch is fundamental for daily behavior. The aim of this work is to understand the neural network responsible for touch processing during a prolonged tactile stimulation, delivered by means of a mechatronic platform by passively sliding a ridged surface under the subject’s fingertip while recording the electroencephalogram (EEG). We then analyzed: (i) the temporal features of the Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and their topographical distribution bilaterally across the cortex; (ii) the associated temporal modulation of the EEG frequency bands. Long-latency SEP were identified with the following physiological sequence P100—N140—P240. P100 and N140 were bilateral potentials with higher amplitude in the contralateral hemisphere and with delayed latency in the ipsilateral side. Moreover, we found a late potential elicited around 200 ms after the stimulation was stopped, which likely encoded the end of tactile input. The analysis of cortical oscillations indicated an initial increase in the power of theta band (4–7 Hz) for 500 ms after the stimulus onset followed a decrease in the power of the alpha band (8–15 Hz) that lasted for the remainder of stimulation. This decrease was prominent in the somatosensory cortex and equally distributed in both contralateral and ipsilateral hemispheres. This study shows that prolonged stimulation of the human fingertip engages the cortex in widespread bilateral processing of tactile information, with different modulations of the theta and alpha bands across time.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bilateral processing, EEG, SEPs, Somatosensory cortex, Touch
in
Brain Topography
volume
30
issue
4
pages
473 - 485
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85019144084
  • pmid:28497235
  • wos:000404750300006
ISSN
0896-0267
DOI
10.1007/s10548-017-0569-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
23776bae-57c2-42b1-ac49-8112b229a80a
date added to LUP
2017-06-14 10:21:30
date last changed
2024-04-14 12:28:04
@article{23776bae-57c2-42b1-ac49-8112b229a80a,
  abstract     = {{<p>The sense of touch is fundamental for daily behavior. The aim of this work is to understand the neural network responsible for touch processing during a prolonged tactile stimulation, delivered by means of a mechatronic platform by passively sliding a ridged surface under the subject’s fingertip while recording the electroencephalogram (EEG). We then analyzed: (i) the temporal features of the Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and their topographical distribution bilaterally across the cortex; (ii) the associated temporal modulation of the EEG frequency bands. Long-latency SEP were identified with the following physiological sequence P100—N140—P240. P100 and N140 were bilateral potentials with higher amplitude in the contralateral hemisphere and with delayed latency in the ipsilateral side. Moreover, we found a late potential elicited around 200 ms after the stimulation was stopped, which likely encoded the end of tactile input. The analysis of cortical oscillations indicated an initial increase in the power of theta band (4–7 Hz) for 500 ms after the stimulus onset followed a decrease in the power of the alpha band (8–15 Hz) that lasted for the remainder of stimulation. This decrease was prominent in the somatosensory cortex and equally distributed in both contralateral and ipsilateral hemispheres. This study shows that prolonged stimulation of the human fingertip engages the cortex in widespread bilateral processing of tactile information, with different modulations of the theta and alpha bands across time.</p>}},
  author       = {{Genna, Clara and Oddo, Calogero M. and Fanciullacci, Chiara and Chisari, Carmelo and Jörntell, Henrik and Artoni, Fiorenzo and Micera, Silvestro}},
  issn         = {{0896-0267}},
  keywords     = {{Bilateral processing; EEG; SEPs; Somatosensory cortex; Touch}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{473--485}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Brain Topography}},
  title        = {{Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Cortical Responses Induced by a Prolonged Tactile Stimulation of the Human Fingertips}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10548-017-0569-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10548-017-0569-8}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}