title: Static Magnetic Field Stimulation over Parietal Cortex Enhances Somatosensory Detection in Humans.
abstract: The role of neuronal oscillations in human somatosensory perception is currently unclear. To address this, here we use noninvasive brain stimulation to artificially modulate cortical network dynamics in the context of neurophysiological and behavioral recordings. We demonstrate that transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS) over the somatosensory parietal cortex increases oscillatory power specifically in the alpha range, without significantly affecting bottom-up thalamocortical inputs indexed by the early cortical component of somatosensory evoked potentials. Critically, we next show that parietal tSMS enhances the detection of near-threshold somatosensory stimuli. Interestingly, this behavioral improvement reflects a decrease of habituation to somatosensation. Our data therefore provide causal evidence that somatosensory perception depends on parietal alpha activity.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTArtificially increasing alpha power by placing a powerful magnetic field over the somatosensory cortex overcomes the natural decline in detection probability of a repeated near-threshold sensory stimulus.
authors.affiliation: FENNSI Group and.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1280-5087
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carrasco-López
authors.affiliation: FENNSI Group and.
authors.forename: Vanesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soto-León
authors.affiliation: Neural Bioengineering Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, SESCAM, Toledo 45071, Spain.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Céspedes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, Rome 00168, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Profice
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Centre of Biomedical Technology, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid 28223, Spain.|Department of Neuroimaging, Reina Sofia Centre for Alzheimer's Research, Madrid 28031, Spain, and.
authors.forename: Bryan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Strange
authors.affiliation: Neural Bioengineering Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, SESCAM, Toledo 45071, Spain, guglielmo.foffani@gmail.com antonioo@sescam.jccm.es.|HM CINAC, Hospital Universitario HM Puerta del Sur, Móstoles, Universidad CEU-San Pablo, Madrid 28938, Spain.
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Foffani
authors.affiliation: FENNSI Group and guglielmo.foffani@gmail.com antonioo@sescam.jccm.es.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7723-0478
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oliviero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: noninvasive brain stimulation; parietal cortex; static magnet fields; transcranial magnetic stimulation