Changes of somatomotor and parietal regions produced by different amounts of electrical stimulation

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 469; no. 1; pp. 150 - 154
• Main Authors: Bittencourt, Juliana, Velasques, Bruna, Machado, Sergio, Cunha, Marlo, Budde, Henning, Basile, Luis F., Cagy, Mauricio, Piedade, Roberto, Ribeiro, Pedro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 18.01.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Absolute theta power; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Electric Stimulation; Electrical stimulation; Female; Fingers - innervation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Motor control; Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration; Motor Cortex - physiology; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Parietal Lobe - physiology; qEEG; Sensorimotor integration; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology; Theta Rhythm; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Electrical stimulation; Sensorimotor integration; qEEG; Motor control; Absolute theta power; Sensorimotor coordination; Electrical stimulus
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.11.063

Our study aims to investigate changes in electrocortical activity by observing the variations in absolute theta power in the primary somatomotor and parietal regions of the brain under three different electrical stimulation conditions: control group (without stimulation), group 24 (24 trials of stimulation) and group 36 (36 trials of stimulation). Thus, our hypothesis is that the application of different patterns of electrical stimulation will promote different states of habituation in these regions. The sample was composed of 24 healthy (absence of mental and physical impairments) students (14 male and 10 female), with ages varying from 25 to 40 years old (32.5±7.5), who are right-handed (Edinburgh Inventory). The subjects were randomly distributed into three groups: control (n=8), G24 (n=8) and G36 (n=8). We use the Functional electrical stimulation (FES) equipment (NeuroCompact-2462) to stimulate the right index finger extensor muscle, while the electroencephalographic signal was simultaneously recorded. We found an interaction between condition and block factors for the C3 and P3 electrode, a condition and block main effects for the C4 electrode, and a condition main effect for the P4 electrode. Our results support the hypothesis that electrical stimulation promotes neurophysiological changes. It appears that stimulus adaptation (accommodation) of specific circuits can strengthen the brain's ability to distinguish between and respond to such stimuli over time.