# Microstimulation

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**Microstimulation** is a technique that stimulates a small population of [neurons](/source/Neuron) by passing a small [electrical current](/source/Electrical_current) through a nearby [microelectrode](/source/Microelectrode).

## Applications

Microstimulation is used in [neuroanatomical](/source/Neuroanatomy) research to identify the functional significance of a group of neurons. For example, Vidal-Gonzalez et al. (2006) applied microstimulation to the rat prelimbic and infralimbic subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex while testing the subjects in a fear-inducing low-footshock condition for various behavioral indicators of fear (such as freezing).[1] This test allowed them to compare the relative fear behavior of rats under microstimulation in either subregion to normal rats in the same condition. The researchers concluded that the prelimbic subregion excites fear behavior while the infralimbic subregion inhibits fear behavior. In this instance, the correlation between stimulation and behavior helped identify the function of these two subregions in the process of fear.

Microstimulation is being explored[*[by whom?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*] as a method to deliver sensory percepts to circumvent damaged sensory receptors or pathways. For example, stimulation of primary [visual cortex](/source/Visual_cortex) create [phosphenes](/source/Phosphene) (flashes of light) which can be used to restore some vision for a blind individual. Other applications include bladder prostheses; cochlear and brain-stem auditory prostheses and retinal and thalamic visual prostheses.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Vidal-Gonzalez, Ivan; Vidal-Gonzalez, Benjamín; Rauch, Scott L.; Quirk, Gregory J. (2006). ["Microstimulation reveals opposing influences of prelimbic and infralimbic cortex on the expression of conditioned fear"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1783626). *Learning & Memory*. **13** (6): 728–733. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1101/lm.306106](https://doi.org/10.1101%2Flm.306106). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [1783626](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1783626). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [17142302](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17142302).

## Further reading

- Salzman, C. Daniel; Britten, Kenneth H.; Newsome, William T. (July 1990). "Cortical microstimulation influences perceptual judgements of motion direction". *Nature*. **346** (6280): 174–177. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1990Natur.346..174S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990Natur.346..174S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/346174a0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F346174a0). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [2366872](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2366872). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4255246](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4255246).

- McIntyre, Cameron C.; Grill, Warren M. (1 March 2000). "Selective Microstimulation of Central Nervous System Neurons". *Annals of Biomedical Engineering*. **28** (3): 219–233. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1114/1.262](https://doi.org/10.1114%2F1.262). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [10784087](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10784087). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [26491663](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:26491663).

- Graziano, Michael S. A; Taylor, Charlotte S. R; Moore, Tirin (30 May 2002). ["Complex Movements Evoked by Microstimulation of Precentral Cortex"](https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0896-6273%2802%2900698-0). *Neuron*. **34** (5): 841–851. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00698-0](https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0896-6273%2802%2900698-0). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [12062029](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12062029). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [3069873](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:3069873).

- Moore, Tirin; Armstrong, Katherine M. (January 2003). "Selective gating of visual signals by microstimulation of frontal cortex". *Nature*. **421** (6921): 370–373. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2003Natur.421..370M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.421..370M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nature01341](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature01341). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [12540901](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12540901). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4405385](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4405385).

- Tehovnik, E. J.; Tolias, A. S.; Sultan, F.; Slocum, W. M.; Logothetis, N. K. (1 August 2006). "Direct and Indirect Activation of Cortical Neurons by Electrical Microstimulation". *Journal of Neurophysiology*. **96** (2): 512–521. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1152/jn.00126.2006](https://doi.org/10.1152%2Fjn.00126.2006). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [16835359](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16835359).

- Logothetis, Nikos K.; Augath, Mark; Murayama, Yusuke; Rauch, Alexander; Sultan, Fahad; Goense, Jozien; Oeltermann, Axel; Merkle, Hellmut (October 2010). ["The effects of electrical microstimulation on cortical signal propagation"](https://hal.science/hal-00573858/file/PEER_stage2_10.1038%252Fnn.2631.pdf) (PDF). *Nature Neuroscience*. **13** (10): 1283–1291. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nn.2631](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnn.2631). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [20818384](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20818384). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [16280316](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:16280316).

- Flesher, Sharlene N.; Collinger, Jennifer L.; Foldes, Stephen T.; Weiss, Jeffrey M.; Downey, John E.; Tyler-Kabara, Elizabeth C.; Bensmaia, Sliman J.; Schwartz, Andrew B.; Boninger, Michael L.; Gaunt, Robert A. (19 October 2016). "Intracortical microstimulation of human somatosensory cortex". *Science Translational Medicine*. **8** (361): 361ra141. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf8083](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscitranslmed.aaf8083). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [27738096](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27738096). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4619069](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4619069).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Microstimulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstimulation) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstimulation?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.