Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

43.0K
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
43.0K
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

11.0K
The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
11.0K
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

8.3K
Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
8.3K
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

2.3K
The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at...
2.3K
Sensation01:21

Sensation

1.3K
Sensory receptors are specialized neurons that respond to specific types of external stimuli, initiating the process known as sensation. This occurs when sensory input, such as light entering the eye, is detected by these receptors, causing chemical changes in the cells of the retina. These cells then convert the sensory stimulus into action potentials that are transmitted to the central nervous system, a process termed transduction.
Absolute thresholds can quantify the sensitivity of sensory...
1.3K
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

2.4K
Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
2.4K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

An HD-EEG Database to dissect Somatosensory Awareness from Task Relevance and Report.

Scientific data·2025
Same author

Mirror Neurons in Monkey Frontal and Parietal Areas.

Scientific data·2025
Same author

Scalp EEG predicts intracranial brain activity in humans.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Thalamic feedback shapes brain responses evoked by cortical stimulation in mice and humans.

Nature communications·2025
Same author

The individual training history shapes soccer players' ability to predict teammates' and opponents' moves.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Stimulation mapping and whole-brain modeling reveal gradients of excitability and recurrence in cortical networks.

Nature communications·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity
07:28

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Published on: January 21, 2017

7.3K

Task Relevance Modulates Somatosensory Awareness Depending on Stimulus Intensity.

Alice Giorgi1,2, Erica Bonomi1, Enrico Salemi1,2

  • 1Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy.

The European Journal of Neuroscience
|September 26, 2025
PubMed
Summary

The P3b brain response is linked to task relevance, not awareness. Somatosensory awareness negativity (SAN) reflects awareness, but only for difficult-to-detect stimuli when task demands are present.

Keywords:
EEGP3bSANSEPsSomatosensationtactile awareness

More Related Videos

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
09:38

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Published on: January 29, 2014

11.2K
Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS

Published on: July 30, 2020

3.3K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity
07:28

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Published on: January 21, 2017

7.3K
Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
09:38

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Published on: January 29, 2014

11.2K
Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS

Published on: July 30, 2020

3.3K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) include P3b and somatosensory awareness negativity (SAN).
  • P3b is thought to reflect postperceptual processes like reporting, while SAN is linked to awareness.
  • Previous studies lacked conditions to clearly separate awareness from task-related processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To verify if P3b is dependent on reporting and absent in no-report conditions.
  • To determine how task relevance and stimulus amplitude modulate SAN.
  • To distinguish neural correlates of awareness from task-related processing.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental procedure varying stimulus amplitude (sensory/motor threshold) and task relevance (no-report, report+relevant, report+irrelevant).
  • Measurement of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs).
  • Analysis of P3b and SAN components in relation to experimental conditions.

Main Results:

  • P3b was present only when stimulus reporting was required and absent in the no-report condition.
  • SAN was modulated by task relevance, but only for stimuli near the detection threshold.
  • Task relevance enhances neural responses for stimuli challenging to detect, influencing conscious perception.

Conclusions:

  • P3b is associated with task relevance and stimulus reporting, not sensory awareness.
  • SAN serves as a proxy for awareness in attentional manipulations, particularly for near-threshold stimuli.
  • Task relevance influences conscious perception by enhancing neural responses to difficult stimuli.