Objective: The development of a new therapeutic glove for the vibro-tactile stimulation of the fingertips was accompanied by investigations on its mode of action on brain activity.

Background: Patterned vibro-tactile stimulation has recently been under investigation as a non-invasive treatment option for neurological movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease. The effect of this patterned stimulation on neural activity has been demonstrated by mathematical models and promising therapeutic effects have been reported in small patient samples. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of patterned vibro-tactile stimulation on the underlying brain activity has not been validated in human subjects yet. In an ongoing series of experiments, we thus aim to follow the somatosensory pathway from the fingertip to the somatosensory cortex and – in future studies in patients – to the basal ganglia.

Method: Seven healthy subjects (4 male, 3 female, mean age 33y) received repetitive and patterned vibro-tactile stimulation to the fingertips of their right hand. The vibration impulses were applied using actuator prototypes in the demonstrator phase of the newly developed device. Simultaneously, brain activity in the neocortex was recorded via EEG. Entrainment and the complex modulation of brain activity were analyzed using sensory evoked potentials (SEPs), power spectra, and event-related desynchronization.

Results: Repetitive stimulation elicited characteristic SEPs and led to entrainment at the target frequency (20Hz & 26Hz) in the contralateral somatosensory cortex in all studied subjects. Desynchronization of neural activity could not be identified in healthy subjects, presumably due to missing pathologic activity. However, complex stimulation patterns resulted in corresponding activity patterns, indicating that brain activity can be selectively modulated by vibro-tactile stimulation to some extent.

Conclusion: We observed that patterned stimulation results in similar patterns of brain activity, forming the basis for targeted control of synchronization and desynchronization. In future applications, this knowledge could be used to adapt the stimulation parameters to the needs of the individual user and to optimize the therapeutic stimulation to reduce the symptoms of neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/investigation-of-the-mode-of-action-of-a-new-device-for-the-application-of-therapeutic-vibro-tactile-stimulation-to-the-fingertips-on-brain-activity/