Optical Imaging of Tactile Information in S1 Cortex

项目总结/摘要 这个提议的目的是研究大脑如何编码大脑中的触觉运动处理。 躯体感觉皮层处理的两个不同阶段内的反应，初级（SI）和次级（SII） 将检查躯体感觉皮层。了解它们的功能作用的核心是找出它们的功能是什么。 区分一个区域和另一个区域。通过使用简单与复杂的刺激，我们的目标是区分 反应与刺激的物理性质密切相关的区域， 响应是不变的并且更接近地反映运动感知。我们将采用光学成像，电压 敏感染料成像，BOLD功能磁共振成像，单单位记录和解剖跟踪方法来解决这些问题 问题.这些实验将阐明触觉行为和注意力背后的神经回路， 理解将具有临床相关性，例如，从中风中恢复功能， 触觉假肢的发展。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goal of this proposal is to investigate how the brain encodes tactile motion processing in the brain. Responses within two different stages of somatosensory cortical processing, primary (SI) and second (SII) somatosensory cortex, will be examined. Central to understanding their functional roles is finding out what distinguishes one area from another. By using simple versus complex stimuli, we aim to distinguish between areas whose responses are closely associated with the physical nature of the stimulus and areas whose responses are invariant and more closely reflect the motion percept. We will employ optical imaging, voltage sensitive dye imaging, BOLD fMRI, single unit recording, and anatomical tracing methods to address these questions. These experiments will elucidate the neural circuitries underlying tactile behavior and attention, understanding that will have clinical relevance for, for example, recovery of function from stroke and development of tactile prosthetics.