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Modulation of somatosensory evoked potentials during force generation and relaxation

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Abstract

This study investigated the modulation of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) during precisely controlled force generation and force relaxation in a visuomotor tracking task. Subjects were instructed to track a target line with a line that represented their own force generated by grip movement with the right hand as accurately as possible during concurrent electrical stimulation. The target force line moved up continuously from 0 to 20 % of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) (the force generation phase: FG phase) and moved down from 20 to 0 % of MVC (the force relaxation phase: FR phase) in 7 s at a constant velocity. We separately obtained SEPs following electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the wrist in each phase. During the visuomotor tracking task, compared with the stationary condition, the N30 at Fz and P27 at C3′ showed a significant reduction in amplitude in the FG and FR phases. In addition, the N30 and P27 were significantly smaller in amplitude in the FG than FR phase. Although the average amount of force exertion was the same in the FG and FR phases, the modulation of SEP amplitude was larger in the FG phase. These results indicated that sensorimotor integration in the somatosensory area was dependent on the context of movement exertion.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Y. Takeshima for help in devising, constructing, and maintaining the equipment used in this study. This study is the result of “Development of biomarker candidates for social behavior” carried out under the Strategic Research Program for Brain Sciences by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) to T.W. (23700689).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, 4448585, Japan

    Toshiaki Wasaka, Tetsuo Kida & Ryusuke Kakigi

  2. Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan

    Tetsuo Kida

  3. Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Tokyo, Japan

    Tetsuo Kida

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  1. Toshiaki Wasaka
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  2. Tetsuo Kida
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Correspondence to Toshiaki Wasaka.

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Wasaka, T., Kida, T. & Kakigi, R. Modulation of somatosensory evoked potentials during force generation and relaxation. Exp Brain Res 219, 227–233 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3082-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3082-z

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