Frequency specific modulation of human somatosensory cortex

Matteo Feurra, Walter Paulus, Vincent Walsh, Ryota Kanai, Matteo Feurra, Walter Paulus, Vincent Walsh, Ryota Kanai

Abstract

Oscillatory neuronal activities are commonly observed in response to sensory stimulation. However, their functional roles are still the subject of debate. One-way to probe the roles of oscillatory neural activities is to deliver alternating current to the cortex at biologically relevant frequencies and examine whether such stimulation influences perception and cognition. In this study, we tested whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) could elicit tactile sensations in humans in a frequency-dependent manner. We tested the effectiveness of tACS over SI at frequency bands ranging from 2 to 70 Hz. Our results show that stimulation in alpha (10-14 Hz) and high gamma (52-70 Hz) frequency range produces a tactile sensation in the contralateral hand. A weaker effect was also observed for beta (16-20 Hz) stimulation. These findings highlight the frequency dependency of effective tACS over SI with the effective frequencies corresponding to those observed in previous electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography studies of tactile perception. Our present study suggests that tACS could be used as a powerful online stimulation technique to reveal the causal roles of oscillatory brain activities.

Keywords: frequencies; somatosensory cortex; tACS; tactile.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Tactile sensation ratings per frequency band. The rating score scaled from 0 (no sensation at all) to 3 (maximum sensation). The error bars correspond to 1 SEM. Conditions with significant p-values of post hoc comparisons are labeled with one asterisk (*) for p < 0.05 which indicates significant differences between the experimental conditions. Changes of tactile rating are evident for alpha and gamma bands.
Figure A1
Figure A1
Tactile sensation ratings per frequency band. The rating score scaled from 0 (no sensation at all) to 3 (maximum sensation). The error bars correspond to one standard error of the mean (SEM).

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