NEURAL MECHANISMS OF CUTANEOUS SPATIAL INTEGRATION

该项目旨在确定大脑皮层在大脑中的作用 灵长类的手的感觉功能。神经生理学和 心理物理技术将被用来检查躯体感觉如何 系统集成了皮肤上的空间信息。一台新电脑 受控触觉刺激器，将空间复杂的刺激传递到 由144个微型探头组成的密集阵列，是在上一个项目中开发的 期间，将用于测量初级和 清醒猕猴大脑皮层的次级体感区域。 这些动物在心理物理实验中接受了训练，以对 刺激的特定特征，如空间频率或方向 运动特性，允许关联单个单位放电的特性 刺激产生的感觉在猴子和人类身上都有。 本提案中描述的实验涉及四个主要主题：(A) 运动及其在皮肤上的方向的编码，(B)编码 纹理表面的空间频率，(C)空间组织 大脑皮层神经元接受不同来源信息的感受野 皮肤机械感受器的分类，以及(D)功能比较 SI和SiI皮质的活动。这些研究将提供第一个 眼球触觉反应的神经生理学研究 显示器通常用作盲人的感官替代辅助和 聋子。我们将获得有关触觉的重要神经生理学数据 大脑皮层的信息处理能力，功能 三个不同的细胞结构区域的组织，以及 两个半球之间的信息整合。这些发现可能会 有重要的临床应用，如开发更多 神经科疾病患者感觉功能的定量检测 精神障碍或周围神经损伤，以及感觉改善 为视力和/或听力受损的人提供代用品。

This project is designed to determine the role of the cerebral cortex in the sensory function of the primate hand. Neurophysiological and psychophysical techniques will be used to examine how the somatosensory system integrates spatial information on the skin. A new computer controlled tactile stimulator which delivers spatially complex stimuli to a dense array of 144 miniature probes, developed during the previous project period, will be used to measure single unit responses in both primary and secondary somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex of awake monkeys. These animals are trained in psychophysical experiments to respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as spatial frequency or direction of motion, permitting properties of single unit discharges to be correlated with the sensations produced by the stimulus in both monkeys and humans. The experiments described in this proposal address four major topics: (A) the coding of motion and its direction across the skin, (B) the coding of spatial frequency of textured surfaces, (C) the spatial organization of receptive fields of cortical neurons receiving inputs from different classes of cutaneous mechanoreceptors, and (D) functional comparison of activity in SI and SII cortices. These studies will provide the first neurophysiological studies of responses evoked by the OPTACON tactile display normally used as a sensory substitution aid for the blind and deaf. We will obtain important neurophysiological data on the tactile information processing capabilities of the cerebral cortex, the functional organization of three different cytoarchitectural areas, and the integration of information between the two hemispheres. The findings may have important clinical applications such as the development of more quantitative tests of sensory function in patients with neurological disorders or peripheral nerve injuries, and the improvement of sensory substitution aids for visually and/or hearing impaired individuals.