EEG Features of Evoked Tactile Sensation: Two Cases Study

Purpose: Sensory feedback for prosthetics is an important issue. The area of forearm stump skin that has evoked tactile sensation (ETS) of fingers is defined as the projected finger map (PFM), and the area close to the PFM region that does not have ETS is defined as the non-projected finger map (NPFM). Previous studies have confirmed that ETS can restore the tactile pathway of the lost finger, which was induced by stimulation of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on the end of stump skin. This study aims to reveal EEG features between the PFM and the NPFM regions of the stumps under the same TENS stimulation condition. Methods: The PFM and NPFM regions of the two subjects were stimulated with the same intensity of TENS, respectively. TENS as target stimuli are modulated according to the Oddball paradigm to evoke the P300 components. Result: The PFM regions of both subjects were able to elicit P300 components, while their NPFM regions were not able to elicit P300 components. However, this P300 appears early (249 ms for subject 1,230 ms for subject 2) and has continuous positive peaks (peak 1,139 ± 3 ms, peak 2,194 ± 0.5 ms) in front of it. Discussion: N30 and P300 can prove that the two subjects with PFM can perceive and recognize ETS. The heteromorphisms of the P300 waveform may be related to the difficulty in subjects’ cognition of ETS or caused by the fusion of P150, P200, and P300.