Transcutaneous nerve stimulation. Frequency and waveform specificity in humans.
The effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TNS) of a constant alternating current administered at various frequencies and waveforms to volunteer human subjects were investigated. The TNS was found to evoke noncutaneous subjective sensations in all the subjects. Only with a sinusoid waveform of TNS were distinct frequency ranges of the stimulation associated with specific noncutaneous subjective sensations. Our findings suggest that nervous tissue is capable of discriminating the waveform parameters of an electrical stimulus.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D010719:Phosphenes / Q000502:physiology; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation; D014732:Vibration; D014794:Visual Fields