title: Sensory gating, inhibition control and gamma oscillations in the human somatosensory cortex.
abstract: Inhibiting the responses to irrelevant stimuli is an essential component of human cognitive function. Pre-attentive auditory sensory gating (SG), an attenuated neural activation to the second identical stimulus, has been found to be related to the performance of higher-hierarchical brain function. However, it remains unclear whether other cortical regions, such as somatosensory cortex, also possess similar characteristics, or if such a relationship is modality-specific. This study used magnetoencephalography to record neuromagnetic responses to paired-pulse electrical stimulation to median nerve in 22 healthy participants. Somatosensory SG ratio and cortical brain oscillations were obtained and compared with the behavioral performance of inhibition control, as evaluated by somatosensory and auditory Go-Nogo tasks. The results showed that somatosensory P35m SG ratio correlated with behavioral performance of inhibition control. Such relationship was also established in relation to the auditory Go-Nogo task. Finally, a higher frequency value of evoked gamma oscillations was found to relate to a better somatosensory SG ability. In conclusion, our data provided an empirical link between automatic cortical inhibition and behavioral performance of attentive inhibition control. This study invites further research on the relationships among gamma oscillations, neurophysiological indices, and behavioral performance in clinical populations in terms of SG or cortical inhibition.
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Chia-Hsiung
authors: CH
authors: Cheng
authors: Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Pei-Ying S
authors: PY
authors: Chan
authors: Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Niddam
authors: Graduate Institute of Applied Physics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Mind, Brain and Learning Center, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Shang-Yueh
authors: SY
authors: Tsai
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Shih-Chieh
authors: SC
authors: Hsu
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Chia-Yih
authors: CY
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D055139:Sensory Gating; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult