Delineation of somatosensory finger areas using vibrotactile stimulation, an ECoG study

Brain and Behavior

Rémy Wahnoun¹  Michelle Benson¹  Stephen Helms-Tillery² 

[1] Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Children's Neuroscience Research, Phoenix, Arizona;School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

关键词: Electroencephalography;    epilepsy;    event‐related potentials;    evoked potentials;    fingers;    somatosensory cortex;   

DOI  :  10.1002/brb3.369

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Background

In surgical planning for epileptic focus resection, functional mapping of eloquent cortex is attained through direct electrical stimulation of the brain. This procedure is uncomfortable, can trigger seizures or nausea, and relies on subjective evaluation. We hypothesize that a method combining vibrotactile stimulation and statistical clustering may provide improved somatosensory mapping.

Methods

Seven pediatric candidates for surgical resection underwent a task in which their fingers were independently stimulated using a custom designed finger pad, during electrocorticographic monitoring. A cluster-based statistical analysis was then performed to localize the elicited activity on the recording grids.

Results

Mid-Gamma clusters (65–115 Hz) arose in areas consistent with anatomical predictions as well as clinical findings, with five subjects presenting a somatotopic organization of the fingers. This process allowed us to delineate finger representation even in patients who were sleeping, with strong interictal activity, or when electrical stimulation did not successfully locate eloquent areas.

Conclusions

We suggest that this scheme, relying on the endogenous neural response rather than exogenous electrical activation, could eventually be extended to map other sensory areas and provide a faster and more objective map to better anticipate outcomes of surgical resection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.