Quantitative Analysis of Cutaneous Slowly Adapting Type I Mechanorceptors

除了向大脑传递振动等属性的定时信息外，触觉还允许对物体的纹理和空间属性进行辨别。哺乳动物的一类机械感受器对变形表现出缓慢的适应反应；被称为T1或sa1受体，存在于皮肤下的小圆顶结构中。这些穹顶由单个神经细胞的终端连接，这些神经细胞将信号传递给大脑。在这些神经元中产生反应的位置可能不止一个，因此每个神经元可能有几个附近的最大触摸灵敏度区域，以允许复杂的空间和时间处理。该项目结合了工程和生物技术以及建模，使用一种新的刺激技术来检查这些受体器官的生理反应。重点将放在理解响应产生点之间的时间、空间和机械方面的相互作用。研究结果将被纳入并与数值模型进行比较，以阐明编码信号的可能机制，以便大脑在触觉辨别中使用。这种新颖的方法将为微力学和空间整合在触觉中的作用提供所需的数据，并将对感觉编码的神经科学研究和机器人人工触觉传感器的工程方面产生影响。

The sense of touch allows discrimination of texture and spatial properties of objects, in addition to conveying timing information on properties such as vibration to the brain. One class of mechanoreceptor in mammals shows a slowly adapting response to deformation; are called T1 or SA 1 receptors and are found in small domed structures under the skin. These domes are contacted by terminals of single nerve cells that carry the signal to the brain. There may be more than one site where responses are generated in such neurons, so that each neuron may have several nearby zones of maximal touch sensitivity, to allow sophisticated spatial and temporal processing. This project combines engineering and biological techniques and modelling to examine the physiological responses from these receptor organs, using a novel stimulus technology. The emphasis will be on understanding the temporal, spatial, and mechanical aspects of interactions between response generator sites. Results will be incorporated and compared to numerical models, to clarify possible mechanisms for encoding the signals, for the brain to use in tactile discrimination. This novel approach will provide needed data on the role of micromechanics and spatial integration on touch, and will have impact on neuroscience studies of sensory coding, and on engineering aspects of artificial tactile sensors for robotics.