Instruct: Identify the main category of Biorxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Effects of stimulus pulse rate on somatosensory adaptation in the human cortex BackgroundIntracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of the somatosensory cortex can restore sensation to people with neurological diseases. However, many aspects of ICMS are poorly understood, including the effect of continuous stimulation on percept intensity over time.

ObjectiveHere, we evaluate how tactile percepts, evoked by ICMS in the somatosensory cortex of a human participant adapt over time.

MethodsWe delivered continuous and intermittent ICMS to the somatosensory cortex and assessed the reported intensity of tactile percepts over time in a human participant. Experiments were conducted across approximately one year and linear mixed effects models were used to assess significance.

ResultsContinuous stimulation at high frequencies led to rapid decreases in intensity, while low frequency stimulation maintained percept intensity for longer periods. Burst-modulated stimulation extended the time before the intensity began to decrease, but all protocols ultimately resulted in complete sensation loss within one minute. Intermittent stimulation paradigms with several seconds between stimulus trains also led to decreases in intensity on many electrodes, but never resulted in extinction of sensation after over three minutes of stimulation. Additionally, longer breaks between each pulse train resulted in some recovery of the stimulus-evoked percepts. For several electrodes, intermittent stimulation had almost no effect on the perceived intensity.

ConclusionsIntermittent ICMS paradigms were more effective at maintaining percepts, and given that transient activity in the somatosensory cortex dominates the response to object contact, this stimulation method may mimic natural cortical activity and improve the perception of stimulation over time.
5
The categories of this paper are: cell
8
The categories of this paper are: genomics
20
The categories of this paper are: pharmacology
7
The categories of this paper are: ecology
29
The categories of this paper are: education
25
The categories of this paper are: bioengineering
21
The categories of this paper are: toxicology
16
The categories of this paper are: microbiology
12
The categories of this paper are: behavior
19
The categories of this paper are: epidemiology
1
The categories of this paper are: bioinformatics
2
The categories of this paper are: biology
23
The categories of this paper are: immunology
18
The categories of this paper are: systems
11
The categories of this paper are: cognition
31
The categories of this paper are: paleontology