Enhancing tactile sensation in older adults with electrical noise stimulation.
Older adults often suffer from diminished somatosensation stemming from age-related neuropathy. Recently, localized low-level electrical noise stimulation was shown to enhance tactile sensitivity in healthy young subjects. Here, we hypothesized that fine-touch sensitivity in older adults can be similarly improved. Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments were used to evaluate fine-touch sensitivity on the first metatarsal phalangeal joint with four electrical stimulus conditions and a null (no-noise) condition in nine healthy elderly subjects. Electrical noise stimulation resulted in a statistically significant increase in the number of detections below the null-condition detection threshold, for five of the nine subjects, as well as across the entire population. This work suggests that electrical noise-based techniques may enable people to overcome functional difficulties due to age-related sensory loss.
Dhruv
Neel T
NT
Center for BioDynamics and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Niemi
James B
JB
Harry
Jason D
JD
Lipsitz
Lewis A
LA
Collins
James J
JJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016010:Binomial Distribution; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004560:Electricity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*