I-Corps: Enhancing Sensory Processing via Noninvasive Neuromodulation

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发能够准确感知完成日常生活和独立生活所需任务所需的触觉、听觉和视觉刺激细节的技术。感觉处理受损可能会导致误解和错误沟通，这可能会令人沮丧、虚弱和危险。这项技术可以快速调节感觉处理，并可以在许多潜在的使用案例中提供立竿见影的好处。通过恢复清晰的感觉处理，这项技术寻求促进许多因慢性感觉问题而退出这些活动的人重返社交、锻炼、爱好和就业。感觉处理的增强可能会提高轻松沟通、安全移动和灵活处理物体的能力。这个i-Corps项目基于一种通过非侵入性神经调节技术快速提高大脑处理感觉信息的准确性和细节的方法的开发。在动物和人类的研究中，感觉处理的增强转化为感觉敏锐度的提高，这在感觉任务中的表现得到了证明。这项技术包括可穿戴的神经刺激贴片，可以治疗各种临床原因的感觉处理受损。这种贴片引起大脑蓝斑-去甲肾上腺素(LC-NE)系统的紧张性激活，并导致丘脑感觉处理的快速增强。这种NE增强的感觉处理状态增加了清醒动物执行感觉任务的知觉敏感度。在人体内，迷走神经可以通过经皮传递电流的方式被无创地刺激，提供了一种有效和安全的神经调节方法。这种使用持续紧张性VNS的新生物电子方法按需提供感官增强。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology that accurately perceives details of tactile, auditory, and visual stimuli required for completing the tasks necessary for daily life and independent living. Impaired sensory processing may cause misperceptions and miscommunication that can be frustrating, debilitating, and dangerous. This technology rapidly modulates sensory processing and could provide an immediate benefit across many potential use cases. By restoring clear sensory processing, this technology seeks to facilitate a return to socializing, exercise, hobbies, and employment for many individuals who have withdrawn from those activities due to chronic sensory issues. An enhancement of sensory processing may improve the ability to communicate easily, ambulate safely, and handle objects with dexterity.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a method of rapidly enhancing the accuracy and detail of sensory information processed in the brain via a noninvasive neuromodulation technique. In both animal and human studies, enhanced sensory processing translated to increased sensory acuity as evidenced by improved performance on sensory tasks. This technology includes wearable neural stimulation patches that could treat a variety of clinical causes of impaired sensory processing. This patches cause tonic activation of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in the brain and have resulted in a rapid enhancement of thalamic sensory processing. This NE-enhanced sensory processing state increased the perceptual sensitivity of awake animals performing sensory tasks. The vagus nerve can be stimulated noninvasively in humans by delivering electric current transcutaneously, providing an effective and safe method of neuromodulation. This novel bioelectronic method of using continuous tonic VNS provides sensory enhancement on-demand.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.