Breen Paul P, ÓLaighin Gearóid, McIntosh Caroline, Dinneen Sean F, Quinlan Leo R, Serrador Jorge M
The MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
College of Engineering & Informatics, NUI Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland; National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science, NUI Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Med Eng Phys. 2014 Aug;36(8):1088-91. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2014.04.010. Epub 2014 Jun 2.
The ability to improve peripheral neural transmission would have significant therapeutic potential in medicine. A technology of this kind could be used to restore and/or enhance sensory function in individuals with depressed sensory function, such as older adults or patients with peripheral neuropathies. The goal of this study was to investigate if a new paradigm of subsensory electrical noise stimulation enhances somatosensory function. Vibration (50Hz) was applied with a Neurothesiometer to the plantar aspect of the foot in the presence or absence of subsensory electrical noise (1/f type). The noise was applied at a proximal site, on a defined region of the tibial nerve path above the ankle. Vibration perception thresholds (VPT) of younger adults were measured in control and experimental conditions, in the absence or presence of noise respectively. An improvement of ∼16% in VPT was found in the presence of noise. These are the first data to demonstrate that modulation of axonal transmission with externally applied electrical noise improves perception of tactile stimuli in humans.
改善外周神经传导的能力在医学上具有巨大的治疗潜力。这样一种技术可用于恢复和/或增强感觉功能低下个体的感觉功能，如老年人或患有周围神经病变的患者。本研究的目的是调查一种新的亚感觉电噪声刺激模式是否能增强躯体感觉功能。使用神经感觉测量仪在有或没有亚感觉电噪声（1/f型）的情况下，将50Hz的振动施加于足部的足底。噪声在近端部位施加，即在踝关节上方胫神经路径的一个特定区域。分别在无噪声和有噪声的对照和实验条件下测量年轻成年人的振动感觉阈值（VPT）。在有噪声的情况下，发现VPT提高了约16%。这些是首批数据，证明通过外部施加电噪声来调节轴突传导可改善人类对触觉刺激的感知。
