Gating of somatosensory evoked responses during active finger movements magnetoencephalographic studies

The "gating" effects caused by active finger movements on somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) following stimulation of the median nerve were examined in normal subjects. The effects of the interfering stimulus were best demonstrated by subtracting the "interference" wave forms from the "control" wave forms to derive the "difference" wave form. The short-latency cortical deflections, N20m-P20m, P30m-N30m and P25m-N35m were significantly attenuated with no latency changes. In contrast, the following middle-latency deflections, the N40m-P40m and the P60m-N60m were clearly changed in terms of latency and duration by the interference. The D30m-U30m and the U60m-D60m in the "difference" wave form were derived from these interference changes. It is considered that the gating effects on all deflections took place in the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulated median nerve, because all of the equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) of the short- and the middle-latency deflections in the "control", "interference" and "difference" wave forms were located there. The gating effects on the short-latency deflections were suggested to be due to the interactions between the neurons in areas 1 and 3b, which were activated by sensory inputs from cutaneous mechanoreceptors, and the neurons in area 3a which were activated by sensory inputs from the muscle spindles. The gating effects on the middle-latency deflections may mainly be due to the excitations of neurons in area 4 caused by either continuous movement-related activities or by sensory inputs spreading from the sensory cortex.