Production of Threshold Levels of Conscious Sensation by Electrical Stimulation of Human Somatosensory Cortex

It has been demonstrated that phrenic nerve afferents project to somatosensory cortex, yet the sensory pathways are still poorly understood. This study investigated the neural responses in the thalamic ventroposteriolateral (VPL) nucleus after phrenic afferent stimulation in cats and rats. Activation of VPL neurons was observed after electrical stimulation of the contralateral phrenic nerve. Direct mechanical stimulation of the diaphragm also elicited increased activity in the same VPL neurons that were activated by electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve. Some VPL neurons responded to both phrenic afferent stimulation and shoulder probing. In rats, VPL neurons activated by inspiratory occlusion also responded to stimulation on phrenic afferents. These results demonstrate that phrenic afferents can reach the VPL thalamus under physiological conditions and support the hypothesis that the thalamic VPL nucleus functions as a relay for the conduction of proprioceptive information from the diaphragm to the contralateral somatosensory cortex.

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Electrical stimulation of the primary somatosensory cortex inhibits spinal dorsal horn neuron activity

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2005.07.044 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 1057 (1-2) ◽

pp. 134-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Arun K. Senapati ◽

Paula J. Huntington ◽

Stacey C. LaGraize ◽

Hilary D. Wilson ◽

Perry N. Fuchs ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Dorsal Horn ◽

Spinal Dorsal Horn ◽

Dorsal Horn Neuron ◽

Neuron Activity ◽

Spinal Dorsal ◽

Spinal Dorsal Horn Neuron ◽

Horn Neuron ◽

Stimulation Of

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Responses of Cerebral Blood Flow Regulation to Activation of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex During Electrical Stimulation of the Forearm

Brain Edema X ◽

10.1007/978-3-7091-6837-0_90 ◽

1997 ◽

pp. 291-292

Author(s):

Kazuyoshi Ichimi ◽

H. Kuchiwaki ◽

S. Inao ◽

M. Shibayama ◽

J. Yoshida

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

Cerebral Blood Flow ◽

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Flow Regulation ◽

Primary Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Blood Flow Regulation ◽

Stimulation Of

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2F33 Measurement of arterial diameter response to electrical stimulation of nucleus basalis of Meynert and forepaw in the anesthetized rat somatosensory cortex

The Proceedings of the Bioengineering Conference Annual Meeting of BED/JSME ◽

10.1299/jsmebio.2016.28._2f33-1_ ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016.28 (0) ◽

pp. _2F33-1_-_2F33-5_

Author(s):

Taku KATO ◽

Nobuhiro WATANABE ◽

Ryo HOSHIKAWA ◽

Harumi HOTTA ◽

Kazuto MASAMOTO

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Nucleus Basalis ◽

Nucleus Basalis Of Meynert ◽

Arterial Diameter ◽

Rat Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Stimulation Of

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Functional magnetic resonance imaging of somatosensory cortex activity produced by electrical stimulation of the median nerve or tactile stimulation of the index finger

Journal of Neurosurgery ◽

10.3171/jns.2000.93.5.0774 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 93 (5) ◽

pp. 774-783 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Maxwell Boakye ◽

Sean C. Huckins ◽

Nikolaus M. Szeverenyi ◽

Bobby I. Taskey ◽

Charles J. Hodge

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Median Nerve ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Tactile Stimulation ◽

Index Finger ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Content Type ◽

The Right ◽

Fine Print ◽

Stimulation Of

Object. Functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging was used to determine patterns of cerebral blood flow changes in the somatosensory cortex that result from median nerve stimulation (MNS).Methods. Ten healthy volunteers underwent stimulation of the right median nerve at frequencies of 5.1 Hz (five volunteers) and 50 Hz (five volunteers). The left median nerve was stimulated at frequencies of 5.1 Hz (two volunteers) and 50 Hz (five volunteers). Tactile stimulation (with a soft brush) of the right index finger was also applied (three volunteers). Functional MR imaging data were transformed into Talairach space coordinates and averaged by group. Results showed significant activation (p < 0.001) in the following regions: primary sensorimotor cortex (SMI), secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), parietal operculum, insula, frontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and posterior parietal cortices (Brodmann's Areas 7 and 40). Further analysis revealed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between volumes of cortical activation in the SMI or SII resulting from electrical stimuli at 5.1 Hz and 50 Hz. There existed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in cortical activity in either the SMI or SII resulting from either left- or right-sided MNS. With the exception of the frontal cortex, areas of cortical activity in response to tactile stimulation were anatomically identical to those regions activated by electrical stimulation. In the SMI and SII, activation resulting from tactile stimulation was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from that resulting from electrical stimulation.Conclusions. Electrical stimulation of the median nerve is a reproducible and effective means of activating multiple somatosensory cortical areas, and fMR imaging can be used to investigate the complex network that exists between these areas.

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Plasticity of Bat's Central Auditory System Evoked by Focal Electric Stimulation of Auditory and/or Somatosensory Cortices

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.2001.85.3.1078 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 85 (3) ◽

pp. 1078-1087 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Xiaofeng Ma ◽

Nobuo Suga

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Cortical Neurons ◽

Electric Stimulation ◽

Time Course ◽

Recovery Period ◽

Acoustic Stimulus ◽

Acoustic Parameter ◽

Response Curves ◽

Stimulation Of

Recent findings indicate that the corticofugal system would play an important role in cortical plasticity as well as collicular plasticity. To understand the role of the corticofugal system in plasticity, therefore, we studied the amount and the time course of plasticity in the inferior colliculus (IC) and auditory cortex (AC) evoked by focal electrical stimulation of the AC and also the effect of electrical stimulation of the somatosensory cortex on the plasticity evoked by the stimulation of the AC. In adult big brown bats ( Eptesicus fuscus), we made the following major findings. 1) Electric stimulation of the AC evokes best frequency (BF) shifts, i.e., shifts in frequency-response curves of collicular and cortical neurons. These BF shifts start to occur within 2 min, reach a maximum (or plateau) at 30 min, and then recover ∼180 min after a 30-min-long stimulus session. When the stimulus session is lengthened from 30 to 90 min, the plateau lasts ∼60 min, but BF shifts recover ∼180 min after the session. 2) The electric stimulation of the somatosensory cortex delivered immediately after that of the AC, as in fear conditioning, evokes a dramatic lengthening of the recovery period of the cortical BF shifts but not that of the collicular BF shift. The electric stimulation of the somatosensory cortex delivered before that of the AC, as in backward conditioning, has no effect on the collicular and cortical BF shifts. 3) Electric stimulation of the AC evokes BF shifts not only in the ipsilateral IC and AC but also in the contralateral IC and AC. BF shifts are smaller in amount and shorter in recovery time for contralateral collicular and cortical neurons than for ipsilateral ones. Our findings support the hypothesis that the AC and the corticofugal system have an intrinsic mechanism for reorganization of the IC and AC, that the reorganization is highly specific to a value of an acoustic parameter (frequency), and that the reorganization is augmented by excitation of nonauditory sensory cortex that makes the acoustic stimulus behaviorally relevant to the animal through associative learning.

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