Direct Modulation of High-Frequency Neural Oscillations in the Auditory Cortex Through Electrical Microstimulation Generated by PVDF Sensors

Bianco, Maria Giovanna; Pullano, Salvatore A.; Critello, Costantino Davide; Menniti, Michele; Citraro, Rita; Russo, Emilio; Sarro, Giovambattista De; Fiorillo, Antonino S.

doi:10.1109/memea.2018.8438766

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In light of these findings, we investigated an electronic interface, inspired by mammals' echolocation system, for delivering sensory information through intracortical microstimulation. Since electrical stimuli can elicit a percept, our primary goal was to evaluate the effect of intracortical microstimulation generated by an ultrasonic source, namely, from a biomimetic sonar system, properly converted into electrical stimuli [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Modulation of the Primary Auditory Cortex by Intracortical Microstimulation with a Bio-Inspired Electronic System

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nowadays, the majority of the progress in the development of implantable neuroprostheses has been achieved by improving the knowledge of brain functions so as to restore sensorial impairments. Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is a widely used technique to investigate site-specific cortical responses to electrical stimuli. Herein, we investigated the neural modulation induced in the primary auditory cortex (A1) by an acousto-electric transduction of ultrasonic signals using a bio-inspired intracortical microstimulator. The developed electronic system emulates the transduction of ultrasound signals in the cochlea, providing bio-inspired electrical stimuli. Firstly, we identified the receptive fields in the primary auditory cortex devoted to encoding ultrasonic waves at different frequencies, mapping each area with neurophysiological patterns. Subsequently, the activity elicited by bio-inspired ICMS in the previously identified areas, bypassing the sense organ, was investigated. The observed evoked response by microstimulation resulted as highly specific to the stimuli, and the spatiotemporal dynamics of neural oscillatory activity in the alpha, beta, and gamma waves were related to the stimuli preferred by the neurons at the stimulated site. The alpha waves modulated cortical excitability only during the activation of the specific tonotopic neuronal populations, inhibiting neural responses in unrelated areas. Greater neuronal activity in the posterior area of A1 was observed in the beta band, whereas a gamma rhythm was induced in the anterior A1. The results evidence that the proposed bio-inspired acousto-electric ICMS triggers high-frequency oscillations, encoding information about the stimulation sites and involving a large-scale integration in the brain.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%