An HD-EEG Database to dissect Somatosensory Awareness from Task Relevance and Report.

The search for the neural correlates of somatosensory perception is a topic of ongoing debate in the neuroscience community. In this context, Somatosensory Awareness Negativity (SAN, or N140) has been proposed as the neural signature of stimulus awareness, whereas the P3b component is more likely associated with post-perceptual processes such as report production or task relevance. Despite this view, the interaction between somatosensory awareness and post-perceptual processes has not yet been explored, nor has it been clearly determined which specific factor the P3b is more closely associated with. To address these questions, we present a high-density EEG dataset from 30 participants who received electrical somatosensory stimulation under two experimental conditions: No-Report, in which they passively perceived the stimuli without further instructions, and Report, in which they performed a task where tactile stimuli were either task-relevant or task-irrelevant for report production. This dataset, specifically designed to dissociate task relevance from report production, provides a valuable resource for advancing our understanding of the neural foundations of sensory awareness.