The effects of electrically stimulating the right median nerve / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of right median nerve stimulation ( RMNS) on brain function in healthy subjects . Methods Twenty-eight healthy volunteers were selected as the study′s subjects. RMNS was admin-istered as a task stimulation in a wake-up therapy mode. The subjects were given 30 seconds of stimulation followed by 30 seconds of rest, repeated for 6 times as the block experiment designed, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed simultaneously with the task stimulation . The brain activation was analyzed using SPM 12 soft-ware. Results The fMRI showed that RMNS activated primarily the left M1, the premotor cortex (PMC), the bilater-al primary and secondary somatosensory cortexes (S1 and S2), and the left insular lobe. Compared with the resting state, the intensity of BOLD signal in the above activated brain areas changed significantly in RMNS wake-up stimula-tion mode. Conclusion Stimulation of the right median nerve can stimulate the local cerebral cortex and produce a certain wake-up effect by activating the right brain areas related to the motor and sensory functioning of the hand.