Toe stimulation improves tactile perception of the genitals.
Cereb Cortex
; 34(2)2024 01 31.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38367614
ABSTRACT
The human body is represented in a topographic pattern in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and genital representation is displaced below the toe representation. However, the relationship between the representation of the genitals and toe in S1 remains unclear. In this study, tactile stimulation was applied to the big toe in healthy subjects to observe changes in tactile acuity in the unstimulated genital area, abdomen, and metacarpal dorsal. Then tactile stimulation was applied to the right abdomen and metacarpal dorsal to observe changes in tactile acuity in bilateral genitals. The results revealed that tactile stimulation of the big toe led to a reduction in the 2-point discrimination threshold (2PDT) not only in the stimulated big toe but also in the bilateral unstimulated genitals, whereas the bilateral abdomen and metacarpal dorsal threshold remained unchanged. On the other hand, tactile stimulation of the abdomen and metacarpal dorsal did not elicit 2-point discrimination threshold changes in the bilateral genitals. Cortical and subcortical mechanisms have been proposed to account for the findings. One explanation involves the intracortical interaction between 2 adjacent representations. Another possible explanation is that the information content of a specific body part is broadly distributed across the S1. Moreover, exploring the links between human behaviors and changes in the cerebral cortex is of significant importance.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Córtex Somatossensorial
/
Percepção do Tato
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Cereb Cortex
Assunto da revista:
CEREBRO
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China