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Sensitivity to microstimulation of somatosensory cortex distributed over multiple electrodes.
Sungshin Kim1, Thierri Callier1, Gregg A Tabot2
1Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago Chicago, IL, USA.
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
|April 28, 2015
Summary
Using multiple electrodes for electrical stimulation of the brain did not significantly improve tactile sensation detection or discrimination in primates. This suggests multi-electrode stimulation is not an effective method for enhancing sensory feedback in neuroprosthetics.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Sensory Prosthetics
Background:
- Electrical stimulation of the somatosensory cortex can evoke tactile sensations, offering potential for restoring touch in individuals with sensory loss.
- A key challenge in intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is the risk of neuronal damage from high current densities, limiting the dynamic range of evoked sensations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if distributing ICMS across multiple electrodes can enhance the dynamic range of tactile sensations without increasing peak current density.
- To determine the efficacy of multi-electrode stimulation in improving the detectability and discriminability of ICMS-evoked sensations.
Main Methods:
- Non-human primates were used to compare the detection and discrimination of ICMS delivered via single versus multiple electrodes.
- Stimulation parameters, including synchronicity, pulse phase, and electrode configuration, were varied to assess their influence on multi-electrode efficacy.
Main Results:
- Increasing the number of electrodes for ICMS provided only marginal improvements in sensation detectability and discriminability.
- These findings held true despite delivering 2-4 times more current overall with multi-electrode stimulation.
- The effect of multi-electrode stimulation was consistent across different stimulation conditions (synchronous/asynchronous, cathodic/anodic, varied spatial arrangements).
Conclusions:
- Distributing ICMS across multiple electrodes is not an effective strategy for expanding the dynamic range of tactile sensations.
- Current approaches to restoring touch via ICMS may require alternative methods to overcome limitations in dynamic range and current density.
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