Modulation of conscious experience by peripheral sensory stimuli.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_93A7099118C1
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Title
Modulation of conscious experience by peripheral sensory stimuli.
Journal
Nature
Author(s)
Bottini G., Paulesu E., Sterzi R., Warburton E., Wise R.J., Vallar G., Frackowiak R.S., Frith C.D.
ISSN
0028-0836 (Print)
ISSN-L
0028-0836
Publication state
Published
Issued date
1995
Volume
376
Number
6543
Pages
778-781
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Case Reports ; Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tPublication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Lack of awareness of touch associated with brain damage may transiently recover after stimulation of the vestibular system. We used positron emission tomographic regional cerebral blood flow measurements to study the neurophysiological effect of vestibular stimulation on touch imperception in a subject with a right brain lesion. We tested the hypothesis that the vestibular system aids conscious tactile perception by introducing a bias in the neural system subserving body representation. We show that in normal subjects touch and vestibular signals share projections to the putamen, insula, somatosensory area II, premotor cortex and supramarginal gyrus. In our patient a subset of these regions (right putamen and insula) was spared by the lesion and was maximally active when touch and vestibular stimulations were combined. These results support the suggestion that our phenomenological consciousness is associated with activation in circumscribed brain areas specific to the particular sensation of which we are aware.
Keywords
Adult, Aged, Brain/blood supply, Brain Mapping, Cerebrovascular Disorders/physiopathology, Functional Laterality, Humans, Male, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Touch/physiology, Vestibular Nuclei/physiology
Pubmed
Create date
16/09/2011 19:40
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:56
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