TY - JOUR
T1 - Multisine frequency modulation of intra-epidermal electric pulse sequences
T2 - A novel tool to study nociceptive processing
AU - van den Berg, Boudewijn
AU - Manoochehri, Mana
AU - Kasting, Mindy
AU - Schouten, Alfred C.
AU - van der Helm, Frans C.T.
AU - Buitenweg, Jan R.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - A sustained sensory stimulus with a periodic variation of intensity creates an electrophysiological brain response at associated frequencies, referred to as the steady-state evoked potential (SSEP). The SSEPs elicited by the periodic stimulation of nociceptors in the skin may represent activity of a brain network that is primarily involved in nociceptive processing. Exploring the behavior of this network could lead to valuable insights regarding the pathway from nociceptive stimulus to pain perception. We present a method to directly modulate the pulse rate of nociceptive afferents in the skin with a multisine waveform through intra-epidermal electric stimulation. The technique was demonstrated in healthy volunteers. Each subject was stimulated using a pulse sequence modulated by a multisine waveform of 3, 7 and 13 Hz. The EEG was analyzed for the presence of the base frequencies and associated (sub)harmonics. Topographies showed significant central and contralateral SSEP responses at 3, 7 and 13 Hz in respectively 7, 4 and 3 out of the 9 participants included for analysis. As such, we found that intra-epidermal stimulation with a multisine frequency modulated pulse sequence can generate nociceptive SSEPs. The possibility to stimulate the nociceptive system using multisine frequency modulated pulses offers novel opportunities to study the temporal dynamics of nociceptive processing.
AB - A sustained sensory stimulus with a periodic variation of intensity creates an electrophysiological brain response at associated frequencies, referred to as the steady-state evoked potential (SSEP). The SSEPs elicited by the periodic stimulation of nociceptors in the skin may represent activity of a brain network that is primarily involved in nociceptive processing. Exploring the behavior of this network could lead to valuable insights regarding the pathway from nociceptive stimulus to pain perception. We present a method to directly modulate the pulse rate of nociceptive afferents in the skin with a multisine waveform through intra-epidermal electric stimulation. The technique was demonstrated in healthy volunteers. Each subject was stimulated using a pulse sequence modulated by a multisine waveform of 3, 7 and 13 Hz. The EEG was analyzed for the presence of the base frequencies and associated (sub)harmonics. Topographies showed significant central and contralateral SSEP responses at 3, 7 and 13 Hz in respectively 7, 4 and 3 out of the 9 participants included for analysis. As such, we found that intra-epidermal stimulation with a multisine frequency modulated pulse sequence can generate nociceptive SSEPs. The possibility to stimulate the nociceptive system using multisine frequency modulated pulses offers novel opportunities to study the temporal dynamics of nociceptive processing.
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Intra-epidermal stimulation
KW - Nociceptive processing
KW - Nonlinearity
KW - Steady-state evoked potentials
KW - System identification
KW - Time-delay
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101308236&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2021.109106
DO - 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2021.109106
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85101308236
SN - 0165-0270
VL - 353
JO - Journal of Neuroscience Methods
JF - Journal of Neuroscience Methods
M1 - 109106
ER -