TAC-Cell inputs to human hand and lip induce short-term adaptation of the primary somatosensory cortex

A new pneumatic tactile stimulator, called the TAC-Cell, was developed in our laboratory to non-invasively deliver patterned cutaneous stimulation to the face and hand in order to study the neuromagnetic response adaptation patterns within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in young adult humans. Individual TAC-Cells were positioned on the glabrous surface of the right hand, and midline of the upper and lower lip vermilion. A 151-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner was used to record the cortical response to a novel tactile stimulus which consisted of a repeating 6-pulse train delivered at three different frequencies through the active membrane surface of the TAC-Cell. The evoked activity in S1 (contralateral for hand stimulation, and bilateral for lip stimulation) was characterized from the best-fit dipoles of the earliest prominent response component. The S1 responses manifested significant modulation and adaptation as a function of the frequency of the punctate pneumatic stimulus trains and stimulus site (glabrous lip versus glabrous hand).