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Updated: Mar 27, 2026
Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
Published on: January 29, 2014
The neural dynamics of somatosensory processing and adaptation across childhood: a high-density electrical mapping
Neha Uppal1, John J Foxe2, John S Butler3
1The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center, Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York;
Insights
Young children show heightened responses to touch, but their nervous system
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Sensory Processing
Background:
- Young children exhibit heightened sensitivity to somatosensory stimuli, unlike adults.
- Neurodevelopmental changes in sensory processing and adaptation are key to understanding sensory reactivity.
- Mechanisms behind altered sensory reactivity during childhood remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neurodevelopmental changes in somatosensory processing and adaptation in children.
- To examine how the nervous system responds and adapts to repeated vibrotactile stimulation across childhood.
Main Methods:
- Utilized high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity.
- Administered repeated 50-ms vibrotactile stimuli to the median nerve of the right wrist.
- Analyzed somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) across different age groups (6-18 years) and stimulation rates.
Main Results:
- Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) showed three main activation phases within 200 ms, originating in the somatosensory cortex.
- While overall SEPs were similar across age groups, significant age-related amplitude differences were found in early and late phases.
- Sensory adaptation effects to stimulus presentation rate were robust and did not vary with age, suggesting it is established early.
Conclusions:
- The somatosensory system undergoes protracted development throughout childhood.
- Younger children exhibited greater amplitude in later SEP phases, indicating developmental changes in sensory responsivity.
- Sensory adaptation mechanisms, as measured, appear to be established by approximately 7 years of age.
Abstract:
Young children are often hyperreactive to somatosensory inputs hardly noticed by adults, as exemplified by irritation to seams or labels in clothing. The neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying changes in sensory reactivity are not well understood. Based on the idea that neurodevelopmental changes in somatosensory processing and/or changes in sensory adaptation might underlie developmental differences in somatosensory reactivity, high-density electroencephalography was used to examine how the nervous system responds and adapts to repeated vibrotactile stimulation over childhood. Participants aged 6-18 yr old were presented with 50-ms vibrotactile stimuli to the right wrist over the median nerve at 5 blocked interstimulus intervals (ranging from ∼7 to ∼1 stimulus per second). Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) revealed three major phases of activation within the first 200 ms, with scalp topographies suggestive of neural generators in contralateral somatosensory cortex. Although overall SEPs were highly similar for younger, middle, and older age groups (6.1-9.8, 10.0-12.9, and 13.0-17.8 yr old), there were significant age-related amplitude differences in initial and later phases of the SEP. In contrast, robust adaptation effects for fast vs. slow presentation rates were observed that did not differ as a function of age. A greater amplitude response in the later portion of the SEP was observed for the youngest group and may be related to developmental changes in responsivity to somatosensory stimuli. These data suggest the protracted development of the somatosensory system over childhood, whereas adaptation, as assayed in this study, is largely in place by ∼7 yr of age.
