Abstract
Neuroplasticity underlies the brain's ability to alter perception and behavior through training, practice, or simply exposure to sensory stimulation. Improvement of tactile discrimination has been repeatedly demonstrated after repetitive sensory stimulation (rSS) of the fingers; however, it remains unknown if such protocols also affect hand dexterity or pain thresholds. We therefore stimulated the thumb and index finger of young adults to investigate, besides testing tactile discrimination, the impact of rSS on dexterity, pain, and touch thresholds. We observed an improvement in the pegboard task where subjects used the thumb and index finger only. Accordingly, stimulating 2 fingers simultaneously potentiates the efficacy of rSS. In fact, we observed a higher gain of discrimination performance as compared to a single-finger rSS. In contrast, pain and touch thresholds remained unaffected. Our data suggest that selecting particular fingers modulates the efficacy of rSS, thereby affecting processes controlling sensorimotor integration.
Highlights
Adult mammalian brains maintain plastic reorganizational capacities throughout life that mediate learning processes [1,2,3]
The stimulation paradigm was applied by small devices consisting of a solenoid that was taped to the tip of the index finger for a few hours to induce synchronous neural activity by tactile costimulation of small skin portions
We reported that the application of an intermittent, highfrequency electrical stimulation protocol for 30 min simultaneously to the thumb and index finger caused an improvement of tactile acuity and of fine motor performance in young adult subjects, but did not alter thresholds of touch and pain
Summary
Adult mammalian brains maintain plastic reorganizational capacities throughout life that mediate learning processes [1,2,3]. We developed alternative protocols that focus on frequency rather than spatial cooperative processes by using high-frequency stimulation [8], which presumably induce long-term potentiation-like (LTPlike) processes in the brain. This form of repetitive sensory stimulation (rSS) was further optimized and modified by reducing the duration of application from a few hours to 20 min [8] and by using cutaneous and electrical stimulation, where electrical pulses were transmitted by self-adhesive electrodes.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
