High frequency repetitive sensory stimulation improves temporal discrimination in healthy subjects
| Autor: | Michele Tinazzi, John C. Rothwell, Roberto Erro, Raffaele Palladino, Elena Antelmi, Kailash P. Bhatia, Lorenzo Rocchi |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Erro, Roberto, Rocchi, Lorenzo, Antelmi, Elena, Palladino, Raffaele, Tinazzi, Michele, Rothwell, John, Bhatia, Kailash P., Erro, R., Rocchi, L., Antelmi, E., Palladino, R., Tinazzi, M., Rothwell, J., Bhatia, K. P. |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
coactivation dystonia plasticity repetitive sensory stimulation somatosensory temporal discrimination Adult Male medicine.medical_specialty media_common.quotation_subject Stimulation Sensory system Audiology Somatosensory system 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Discrimination Psychological coactivation Perception Evoked Potentials Somatosensory Physiology (medical) medicine repetitive sensory stimulation Humans media_common Aged Dystonia Discrimination (Psychology) Sensory stimulation therapy somatosensory temporal discrimination Somatosensory Cortex Middle Aged medicine.disease Coactivation Healthy Volunteer Sensory Systems Healthy Volunteers Electric Stimulation 030104 developmental biology Neurology Somatosensory evoked potential plasticity Time Perception Female Neurology (clinical) dystonia Psychology Sensory System Neuroscience 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Human |
| Popis: | Objective High frequency electrical stimulation of an area of skin on a finger improves two-point spatial discrimination in the stimulated area, likely depending on plastic changes in the somatosensory cortex. However, it is unknown whether improvement also applies to temporal discrimination. Methods Twelve young and ten elderly volunteers underwent the stimulation protocol onto the palmar skin of the right index finger. Somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) was evaluated before and immediately after stimulation as well as 2.5 h and 24 h later. Results There was a significant reduction in somatosensory temporal threshold only on the stimulated finger. The effect was reversible, with STDT returning to the baseline values within 24 h, and was smaller in the elderly than in the young participants. Conclusions High frequency stimulation of the skin focally improves temporal discrimination in the area of stimulation. Given previous suggestions that the perceptual effects rely on plastic changes in the somatosensory cortex, our results are consistent with the idea that the timing of sensory stimuli is, at least partially, encoded in the primary somatosensory cortex. Significance Such a protocol could potentially be used as a therapeutic intervention to ameliorate physiological decline in the elderly or in other disorders of sensorimotor integration. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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