Abstract:
A sustained sensory stimulus with a periodic variation of intensity creates an electrophysiological brain response at associated frequencies, referred to as the steady-state evoked potential (SSEP). The SSEPs elicited by the periodic stimulation of nociceptors in the skin may represent activity of a brain network that is primarily involved in nociceptive processing. Exploring the behavior of this network could lead to valuable insights regarding the pathway from nociceptive stimulus to pain perception. We present a method to directly modulate the pulse rate of nociceptive afferents in the skin with a multisine waveform through intra-epidermal electric stimulation. The technique was demonstrated in healthy volunteers. Each subject was stimulated using a pulse sequence modulated by a multisine waveform of 3, 7 and 13 Hz. The EEG was analyzed for the presence of the base frequencies and associated (sub)harmonics. Topographies showed significant central and contralateral SSEP responses at 3, 7 and 13 Hz in respectively 7, 4 and 3 out of the 9 participants included for analysis. As such, we found that intra-epidermal stimulation with a multisine frequency modulated pulse sequence can generate nociceptive SSEPs. The possibility to stimulate the nociceptive system using multisine frequency modulated pulses offers novel opportunities to study the temporal dynamics of nociceptive processing.
摘要:
强度周期性变化的持续感觉刺激会在相关频率下产生电生理大脑反应,称为稳态诱发电位(SSEP)。由皮肤中伤害感受器的周期性刺激引起的SSEP可以代表主要参与伤害性处理的大脑网络的活动。探索该网络的行为可能会导致有关从伤害性刺激到疼痛感知的途径的有价值的见解。我们提出了一种通过表皮内电刺激以多正弦波形直接调节皮肤中伤害性传入的脉搏率的方法。该技术在健康志愿者中得到了证明。使用由3、7和13Hz的多正弦波形调制的脉冲序列刺激每个受试者。分析EEG的基频和相关(次)谐波的存在。在用于分析的9名参与者中,分别有7、4和3名,在3、7和13Hz时,地形显示出明显的中央和对侧SSEP反应。因此,我们发现,采用多正弦调频脉冲序列的表皮内刺激可以产生伤害性SSEP.使用多正弦调频脉冲刺激伤害性系统的可能性为研究伤害性处理的时间动力学提供了新的机会。