Objective

The purpose of this investigation was to better understand the effects of concussions on the ability to selectively up or down-regulate incoming somatosensory information based on relevance.

Methods

Median nerve somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) were elicited from electrical stimulation and recorded from scalp electrodes while participants completed tasks that altered the relevance of specific somatosensory information being conveyed along the stimulated nerve.

Results

Within the control group, SEP amplitudes for task-relevant somatosensory information were significantly greater than for non-relevant somatosensory information at the earliest cortical processing potentials (N20-P27). Alternatively, the concussion history group showed similar SEP amplitudes for all conditions at early processing potentials, however a pattern similar to controls emerged later in the processing stream (P100) where both movement-related gating and facilitation of task-relevant information were present.

Conclusions

Previously concussed participants demonstrated impairments in the ability to up-regulate relevant somatosensory information at early processing stages. These effects appear to be chronic, as this pattern was observed on average several years after participants’ most recent concussion.

Significance

Given the role of the prefrontal cortex in relevancy-based facilitation during movement-related gating, these findings lend support to the notion that this brain area may be particularly vulnerable to concussive forces.

中文翻译：

---

脑震荡对基于相关性的体感诱发电位调制的长期影响

客观的

本次调查的目的是更好地了解脑震荡对基于相关性选择性地上调或下调传入的体感信息的能力的影响。

方法

正中神经体感诱发电位 (SEP) 是从电刺激中引出并从头皮电极记录的，同时参与者完成了改变沿受刺激神经传递的特定体感信息的相关性的任务。

结果

在对照组中，与任务相关的体感信息的 SEP 幅度显着大于最早皮层处理电位 (N20-P27) 的非相关体感信息的 SEP 幅度。或者，脑震荡历史组在早期处理电位的所有条件下都显示出相似的 SEP 幅度，但是在处理流 (P100) 的后期出现了类似于控制的模式，其中存在与运动相关的门控和任务相关信息的促进。

结论

先前接受过脑震荡的参与者表现出在早期处理阶段上调相关体感信息的能力受损。这些影响似乎是慢性的，因为这种模式是在参与者最近一次脑震荡后平均数年观察到的。

意义

鉴于前额叶皮层在运动相关门控期间基于相关性的促进作用中的作用，这些发现支持了这一大脑区域可能特别容易受到震荡力的影响的观点。