EEG frequency analysis of cortical brain activities induced by effect of light touch

In human postural control, touching a fingertip to a stable object with a slight force (<1 N) reduces postural sway independent of mechanical support, which is referred to as the effect of light touch (LT effect). The LT effect is achieved by the spatial orientation according to haptic feedback acquired from an external spatial reference. However, the neural mechanism of the LT effect is incompletely understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to employ EEG frequency analysis to investigate the cortical brain activity associated with the LT effect when attentional focus was strictly controlled with the eyes closed during standing (i.e., control, fixed-point touch, sway-referenced touch, and only fingertip attention). We used EEG to measure low-alpha (about 8–10 Hz) and high-alpha rhythm (about 10–12 Hz) task-related power decrease/increase (TRPD/TRPI). The LT effect was apparent only when the subject acquired the stable external spatial reference (i.e., fixed-point touch). Furthermore, the LT-specific effect increased the high-alpha TRPD of two electrodes (C3, P3), which were mainly projected from cortical brain activities of the left primary sensorimotor cortex area and left posterior parietal cortex area. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the LT effect and increased TRPD of C3. In contrast, the LT effect correlated positively with increased TRPD of P3. These results suggest that central and parietal high-alpha TRPD of the contralateral hemisphere reflects the sensorimotor information processing and sensory integration for the LT effect. These novel findings reveal a partial contribution of a cortical neural mechanism for the LT effect.