BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

The electrophysiology of tactile extinction: ERP correlates of unconscious somatosensory processing

Eimer, Martin and Maravita, A. and Van Velzen, J. and Husain, M. and Driver, J. (2002) The electrophysiology of tactile extinction: ERP correlates of unconscious somatosensory processing. Neuropsychologia 40 (13), pp. 2438-2447. ISSN 0028-3932.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

We examined the electrophysiological correlates of left-sided tactile extinction in a patient with right-hemisphere damage. Computer-controlled punctate touch was presented to the left, right or both index fingers in an unpredictable sequence. The patient reported his conscious tactile percept (“left”, “right” or “both”). He showed extinction on 75% of bilateral trials, reporting only right stimulation for these. Somatosensory evoked potentials for unilateral stimulation showed early components over contralateral somatosensory areas (P60 and N110) for either hand. In contrast to the results observed for age-matched controls, the patient’s P60 was smaller in amplitude for left-hand touch over the right hemisphere than for right-hand touch over the intact hemisphere. Bilateral trials with extinction revealed residual P60 and N110 components over the right hemisphere in response to the extinguished left touch. These results demonstrate residual unconscious somatosensory processing of extinguished touch. They also suggest that tactile extinction can be caused by attenuation rather than elimination of somatosensory responses in the damaged hemisphere, with an underlying deficit even on unilateral trials.

Metadata

Item Type: Article
School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
Depositing User: Sarah Hall
Date Deposited: 09 Dec 2019 15:56
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:56
URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/30222

Statistics

6 month trend
0Downloads
6 month trend
242Hits

Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

Archive Staff Only (login required)

Edit/View Item
Edit/View Item