LACK of awareness of touch associated with brain damage 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

Bottini, G., Paulesu, E., Sterzi, R., Warburton, E., Wise, R., Vallar, G., et al. (1995). Modulation of conscious experience by peripheral sensory stimuli. NATURE, 376(6543), 778-781 [10.1038/376778a0].

Modulation of conscious experience by peripheral sensory stimuli

PAULESU, ERALDO;VALLAR, GIUSEPPE;
1995

Abstract

LACK of awareness of touch associated with brain damage 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
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Vestibular stimulation, PET
English
1995
376
6543
778
781
none
Bottini, G., Paulesu, E., Sterzi, R., Warburton, E., Wise, R., Vallar, G., et al. (1995). Modulation of conscious experience by peripheral sensory stimuli. NATURE, 376(6543), 778-781 [10.1038/376778a0].
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/45500
Citazioni
  • Scopus 131
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 120
Social impact