Noise and Signal in the Human Brain

Background: It is well known that background noise interferes with sensory stimulation leading to the phenomenon of Stochastic Resonance (SR) {1, 2, 3}. SR predicts that the response of a nonlinear SR system to a weak input signal increases by the presence of a particular, nonzero level of noise. There is indication that SR related phenomena may occur both peripherally and in the central nervous system {4}. Cross modal SR developments further support that notion {5,6,7}. Here we investigate the behavioral SR effects of Electrical Noise Stimulation (ENS) on the perception of somatosensory stimuli in human subject…