Brain generators of laser-evoked potentials: from dipoles to functional significance.

Data on cortical generators of laser-evoked potentials in humans is reviewed, as inferred from dipolar modelling of scalp EEG/MEG results, as well as from intracranial data recorded with subdural grids or intracortical electrodes, to suggest that a parallel processing in SI and SII has remained functional in humans for noxious inputs, whereas hierarchical processing from SI toward S II has emerged for other somatosensory sub-modalities.