This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Golaszewski, S. M. Articles by Mottaghy, F. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Golaszewski, S. M. Articles by Mottaghy, F. M. Related Collections All clinical neurophysiology TMS Motor Control

NEUROLOGY 2004;62:2262-2269
© 2004 American Academy of Neurology

Modulatory effects on human sensorimotor cortex by whole-hand afferent electrical stimulation

S. M. Golaszewski, MD, C. M. Siedentopf, MD, F. Koppelstaetter, MD, P. Rhomberg, MD, G. M. Guendisch, A. Schlager, MD PhD, E. Gallasch, PhD, W. Eisner, MD PhD, S. R. Felber, MD PhD and F. M. Mottaghy, MD PhD

From the Department of Neurology (Dr. Golaszewski), University Hospital of Graz; Departments of Neuroradiology (Drs. Siedentopf, Koppelstaetter, Rhomberg, and Felber, and G.M. Guendisch), Neurosurgery (Dr. Eisner), and Anaesthesia (Dr. Schlager), University Hospital of Innsbruck; Institute of Physiology (Dr. Gallasch), University of Graz, Austria; and the Department of Nuclear Medicine (Dr. Mottaghy), University Hospital Ulm, Germany.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Stefan Golaszewski, Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 22, A-8036 Graz, Austria; e-mail: Stefan.Golaszewski{at}uibk.ac.at

Objective: To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation of the nerve afferents of the hand on cortical activity elicited by whole-hand subthreshold stimulation for sensation in healthy human subjects.

Methods: Ten healthy volunteers were studied using BOLD-fMRI with 1) a test motor-task with finger-to-thumb tapping of the left hand, 2) a whole-hand afferent electrical stimulation of the left hand below the sensory level for sensation for 30 minutes, 3) a second fMRI run with the same paradigm as in the test motor-task immediately after electrical stimulation, and 4) a final identical fMRI run 2 hours post-stimulation to test the cortical changes induced by electrical stimulation. Experiments were carried out on a 1.5 T MR scanner and for fMRI echoplanar sequences were used. Data analysis was performed with SPM99.

Results: An increase of movement-related responses was seen within the primary motor and primary somatosensory areas of both hemispheres when comparing the test motor-task with the motor-task after electrical stimulation relative to the baseline or sham stimulation. Two hours post-stimulation the modulatory effects of mesh-glove stimulation diminished to baseline level except within the contralateral primary motor region.

Conclusions: The increased BOLD response spatially localized within the sensorimotor cortex reflects an increase in neuronal activity that may provide augmented neuronal excitability.

---

Received July 17, 2003. Accepted in final form February 13, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. M. Barlow The Communication Neuroscience Laboratories at the University of Kansas: An Overview Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders, July 1, 2009; 19(1): 18 - 27. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Celnik, N.-J. Paik, Y. Vandermeeren, M. Dimyan, and L. G. Cohen Effects of Combined Peripheral Nerve Stimulation and Brain Polarization on Performance of a Motor Sequence Task After Chronic Stroke Stroke, May 1, 2009; 40(5): 1764 - 1771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]