Azañón Elena, Haggard Patrick
Departament de Psicologia Bàsica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Cortex. 2009 Oct;45(9):1078-84. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.01.006. Epub 2009 Feb 13.
Recent years have seen increasing numbers of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies focusing on somatosensory processing. Most have centered on the primary somatosensory functions of tactile detection, localization and discrimination, and have applied TMS to primary somatosensory areas. These studies confirm the basic functions of primary somatosensory areas, and the behavioural and physiological effects of different TMS protocols. Fewer studies, however, have investigated higher somatosensory function. Here, we review the somatosensory TMS literature both in and beyond primary somatosensory areas. We discuss the plausibility of modulating multisensory representations of one's own body via TMS, and highlight the potential for TMS to probe higher cognitive functions through the modulation of unimodal perceptual systems such as touch, vision or proprioception.
近年来，越来越多的经颅磁刺激（TMS）研究聚焦于体感处理。大多数研究集中在触觉检测、定位和辨别等主要体感功能上，并将TMS应用于主要体感区域。这些研究证实了主要体感区域的基本功能，以及不同TMS方案的行为和生理效应。然而，较少有研究调查更高层次的体感功能。在此，我们回顾了主要体感区域内外的体感TMS文献。我们讨论了通过TMS调节自身身体多感官表征的合理性，并强调了TMS通过调节触觉、视觉或本体感觉等单模态感知系统来探究更高认知功能的潜力。
