Magnetoencephalography was used to investigate the effect of directed attention on changes in sensorimotor mu (8-12Hz) response (mu reactivity) to non-painful electrical stimulation of the median nerve in healthy adults. Results indicated attention-related sex differences in mu reactivity, with females showing i) prolonged mu suppression when attending to somatosensory stimuli indicating active processing of the sensory stimuli; ii) task-dependent attentional modulation of the mu response, which was absent in males, and iii) a trend for greater neuronal excitability of the primary somatosensory region suggesting greater physiological responsiveness to stimulation overall. Sex-related differences in attentional modulation of sensorimotor rhythms suggest that females and males use different top-down control strategies when processing somatosensory information. These sex differences in attention may underlie well-documented sex-related biases in pain processing wherein females typically report greater sensitivity to experimental and clinical pain.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/24276 |
| Date | 06 April 2010 |
| Creators | Popovich, Christina |
| Contributors | Tannock, Rosemary |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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