EEG frequency-tagging suggests that fine-grained vibrotactile contrast is (partly) implemented in S1
Résumé
Oddball paradigms, together with EEG frequency-tagging, can be employed to investigate responses to changes occurring within fast, continuous sequences of stimuli, and represent a useful tool to investigate somatosensory processing of changes in vibrotactile texture. Here, we performed an oddball experiment in which vibrotactile sequences consisting of standard (A) and oddball stimuli (B) were presented in an AAAAB pattern, with a base and oddball presentation rate of 8 Hz and 1.6 Hz (8/5 Hz), respectively. In a first session, A and B were pure sinus vibrations differing in frequency and intensity. The main aim of this condition was to verify and characterize EEG responses to simple vibrotactile contrasts. In a second session, A and B were two different sequences of white noise matched in terms of intensity and average frequency content, but differing in terms of their complex spectrotemporal composition. Scalp topographies of responses elicited by hand and foot stimulation were compared to assess whether they followed the somatotopical organization of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Preliminary results show that, for hand stimulation, both conditions elicited significant EEG peaks at the oddball frequency and its harmonics, with maximal topographic responses at contralateral parietal and frontal electrodes,
consistent with activity originating from the hand area of S1. For foot stimulation, only the frequency/intensity contrast elicited a significant oddball response. Its topography was maximal at central midline electrodes, compatible with the foot representation of S1. Since spectrotemporal contrasts were more subtle than frequency/intensity contrasts, the lack of responses in this condition for foot stimulation could be due to the less sensitive nature of foot cutaneous afferents compared to the hand. In conclusion, we show that EEG frequency-tagging, in combination with a periodic oddball paradigm, can be used to record contrast-specific somatosensory responses which appear to originate at least partly from S1.
Domaines
NeurosciencesOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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