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Spinal direct current stimulation modulates the activity of gracile nucleus and primary somatosensory cortex in anaesthetized rats
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Spinal direct current stimulation modulates the activity of gracile nucleus and primary somatosensory cortex in anaesthetized rats

J. Aguilar, F. Pulecchi, R. Dilena, A. Oliviero, A. Priori and G. Foffani
The Journal of physiology, v 589(20), pp 4981-4996
15 Oct 2011
PMID: 21825031
url
https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.214189View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified) Open

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology Physiology Science & Technology
Afferent somatosensory activity from the spinal cord has a profound impact on the activity of the brain. Here we investigated the effects of spinal stimulation using direct current, delivered at the thoracic level, on the spontaneous activity and on the somatosensory evoked potentials of the gracile nucleus, which is the main entry point for hindpaw somatosensory signals reaching the brain from the dorsal columns, and of the primary somatosensory cortex in anaesthetized rats. Anodal spinal direct current stimulation (sDCS) increased the spontaneous activity and decreased the amplitude of evoked responses in the gracile nucleus, whereas cathodal sDCS produced the opposite effects. At the level of the primary somatosensory cortex, the changes in spontaneous activity induced by sDCS were consistent with the effects observed in the gracile nucleus, but the changes in cortical evoked responses were more variable and state dependent. Therefore, sDCS can modulate in a polarity-specific manner the supraspinal activity of the somatosensory system, offering a versatile bottom-up neuromodulation technique that could potentially be useful in a number of clinical applications.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
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Web of Science research areas
Neurosciences
Physiology
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