NEW METHODS OF ANALYSIS FOR STIMULUS-DRIVEN EEG ACTIVITY

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The overall goals of the existing program project ("CNS Adaptive Mechanisms in Orofacial Sensation") are (1) to develop improved methods for quantification of central adaptation in the human somatosensory nervous system and (2) to evaluate the hypothesis that various orofacial sensory disorders (including temporomandibular disorders) involve in part the abnormal and maladaptive functioning of dynamic neural mechanisms that subserve normal cortical adaptation to maintained somatosensory afferent drive. Within this context, the subproject that is the parent to this FIRCA application has as its specific aims: (1) to identify quantitative scalp electrophysiological (EEG) indices of somatosensory cortical adaptation; (2) to characterize in detail their behavior in a sample of normal adults; and (3) to utilize them for direct experimental comparison of adaptive responses in normals and in patients with orofacial sensory disorders. The proposed collaboration seeks to complement the experimental and physiological strengths of the existing UNC program with the unusual quantitative capabilities of a research group at the Laboratory of Medical Physics at the University of Warsaw which specializes in development and application of advanced signal-processing techniques for EEG analysis. Using both real and simulated EEG data, the foreign collaborators will develop, evaluate, and implement in optimal form for use by the parent project several novel analytical procedures which should greatly facilitate its ability to extract biologically significant information from the collected data, and thus enhance correspondingly its capacity to address program-project-objectives without significant diversion of effort from the original plan.