Morozova Marina, Yakovlev Lev, Syrov Nikolay, Lebedev Mikhail, Kaplan Alexander
Vladimir Zelman Center for Neurobiology and Brain Rehabilitation, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 121205, Moscow, Russia.
Faculty of Biology, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, 518115, Shenzhen, China.
Heliyon. 2024 Nov 28;10(23):e40807. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40807. eCollection 2024 Dec 15.
Mental imagery is a crucial cognitive process, yet its underlying neural mechanisms remain less understood compared to perception. Furthermore, within the realm of mental imagery, the somatosensory domain is particularly underexplored compared to other sensory modalities. This study aims to investigate the influence of tactile imagery (TI) on cortical somatosensory processing. We explored the cortical manifestations of TI by recording EEG activity in healthy human subjects. We investigated event-related somatosensory oscillatory dynamics during TI compared to actual tactile stimulation, as well as somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in response to short vibrational stimuli, examining their amplitude-temporal characteristics and spatial distribution across the scalp. EEG activity exhibited significant changes during TI compared to the no-imagery baseline. TI caused event-related desynchronization (ERD) of the contralateral -rhythm, with a notable correlation between ERD during imagery and real stimulation across subjects. TI also modulated several SEP components in sensorimotor and frontal areas, showing increases in the contralateral P100 and P300, contra- and ipsilateral P300, frontal P200, and parietal P600 components. The results clearly indicate that TI affects cortical processing of somatosensory stimuli, impacting EEG responses in various cortical areas. The assessment of SEPs in EEG could serve as a versatile marker of tactile imagery in practical applications. We propose incorporating TI in imagery-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to enhance sensorimotor restoration and sensory substitution. This approach underscores the importance of somatosensory mental imagery in cognitive neuroscience and its potential applications in neurorehabilitation and assistive technologies.
心理意象是一种关键的认知过程，然而与感知相比，其潜在的神经机制仍鲜为人知。此外，在心理意象领域，与其他感觉模态相比，体感领域的研究尤为不足。本研究旨在探究触觉意象（TI）对皮质体感加工的影响。我们通过记录健康人类受试者的脑电图（EEG）活动来探索TI的皮质表现。我们研究了TI过程中与事件相关的体感振荡动力学，并将其与实际触觉刺激进行比较，同时还研究了对短振动刺激的体感诱发电位（SEP），检查其幅度-时间特征和头皮上的空间分布。与无意象基线相比，TI期间EEG活动表现出显著变化。TI导致对侧节律的事件相关去同步化（ERD），受试者在意象期间的ERD与真实刺激之间存在显著相关性。TI还调节了感觉运动和额叶区域的几个SEP成分，表现为对侧P100和P300、对侧和同侧P300、额叶P200以及顶叶P600成分增加。结果清楚地表明，TI影响体感刺激的皮质加工，影响各个皮质区域的EEG反应。EEG中SEP的评估可作为TI在实际应用中的通用标志物。我们建议将TI纳入基于意象的脑机接口（BCI）中，以增强感觉运动恢复和感觉替代。这种方法强调了体感心理意象在认知神经科学中的重要性及其在神经康复和辅助技术中的潜在应用。
