Electrical stimulation of the human brain: perceptual and behavioral phenomena reported in the old and new literature

Abstract

In this review, we summarize the subjective experiential phenomena and behavioral changes that are caused by electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex or subcortical nuclei in awake and conscious human subjects. Our comprehensive review contains a detailed summary of the data obtained from electrical brain stimulation (EBS) in humans in the last 100 years. Findings from the EBS studies may provide an additional layer of information about the neural correlates of cognition and behavior in healthy human subjects, or the neuroanatomy of illusions and hallucinations in patients with psychosis and the brain symptomatogenic zones in patients with epilepsy. We discuss some fundamental concepts, issues, and remaining questions that have defined the field of EBS, and review the current state of knowledge about the mechanism of action of EBS suggesting that the modulation of activity within a localized, but distributed, neuroanatomical network might explain the perceptual and behavioral phenomena that are reported during focal electrical stimulation of the human brain.

The thalamocortical vestibular system in animals and humans

“…These authors also based their conclusion on the finding that electrical stimulation of the insula only rarely evoked conscious vestibular sensations in epileptic patients (see Fig. 8B and Isnard et al, 2004;Nguyen et al, 2009;Ostrowsky et al, 2002;Penfield and Faulk, 1955;Selimbeyoglu and Parvizi, 2010). This latter view is in line with recent fMRI and cytoarchitectonic mapping of the human parietal operculum and posterior insula (Eickhoff et al, 2006a;Kurth et al, 2010), suggesting that the human analogue of the PIVC may be localized in the parietal operculum (see Fig.…”

“…Physiological vestibular stimulation, allowing to distinguish otolith from semicircular canal afferents, potentially in combination with scalp electroencephalography recordings, may also be relevant to achieve further advances in understanding the vestibular system in humans (see, e.g., Baudonniere et al, 1999;Hood and Kayan, 1985). Finally, these data should be compared with the effects of cortical stimulation (Blanke et al, 2000b;Kahane et al, 2003;Selimbeyoglu and Parvizi, 2010) and focal brain damage on vestibular sensation and function in neurological patients in order to precisely delineate the extent of PIVC and the other regions constituting the human vestibular cortex.…”

Exploring emotions using invasive methods: review of 60 years of human intracranial electrophysiology

“…Second, studies aimed at investigation of DBS in treatment of mood disorders were not included (for review, see Holtzheimer and Mayberg, 2011). Lastly, studies of pain experience were not included (for review, see Selimbeyoglu and Parvizi, 2010). Only Englishlanguage articles and chapters were used.…”

Neuroeconomics and Management Educations: Perspectives for New Applications and Approaches

“…Another tool restricted primarily to animals is electrical brain simulation that uses electrical pulses to stimulate certain sites in the brain and generate new types of responses and behaviours [6].…”