NEURAL MECHANISMS OF CUTANEOUS SPATIAL INTEGRATION

描述（改编自研究者摘要）：本项目 分析了大脑皮层中神经网络的作用， 手的感觉功能。 它旨在了解手是如何获得 信息通过触觉，以及如何感官信息， 物体的大小和形状在熟练的任务中引导手指。 实验 研究神经机制介导的抑郁症：能力， 识别和操纵手中的物体。 神经生理 记录来自SI、SII和 后顶叶皮层测量了 神经群体代表个别手指在几个阶段的 皮层网络，以评估分层和 并行处理 他们评估了大脑使用 顺序分层和并行分布式皮层网络 音乐会比较的一般特征，分类的对象抓住， 这只手的独特细节。 实验检验了重要的假设 关于手的功能：（1）物体大小的皮质表征是一个 手使用的紧急特性。 (2)人口活动提供了更好的 物体大小和形状的表征比个体的反应更重要。 神经元 (3)触觉和本体感受输入是通过 同步点火 (4)手部运动增强了动觉敏感性。 (5)后顶叶皮层编码物体的空间位置 而外侧沟的躯体感觉区域形成信号对象。 记录来自分布在大脑中的神经元群体 大脑皮层将展示大脑如何整合来自大脑皮层的信息。 手指和触觉和本体感受子模态，以形成统一的 对所抓物体的感知。 运动学的同步测量 手部运动和皮层电生理学将解释 用于处理对象的探索和操作过程提供了 手指精细运动控制所需的感觉信息， 对形式的立体认识。 这些研究将提供基本的 深入了解皮层回路的组织，以及 顺序分层网络和并行分布式处理 皮质功能 实验范例将有助于定义神经 立体诊断的基础，一个主要的神经测试手的功能。 他们 将提供新的和重要的神经生理学数据的感觉运动 整合手功能，触觉信息处理 大脑皮层的功能，不同组织的功能 cytorarchitectural领域，和时间整合的空间 大脑皮层中的信息

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract): This project analyzes the role of neural networks in the cerebral cortex mediating the sensory function of the hand. It aims to understand how the hand acquires information through the sense of touch, and how sensory information about object size and shape guides the fingers in skilled tasks. The experiments investigate the neural mechanisms that mediate prehension: the ability to recognize and manipulate objects grasped in the hand. Neurophysiological recordings from single neurons and cortical ensembles in SI, SII and posterior parietal cortex measure the precise temporal relations between neural populations representing individual fingers at several stages of the cortical network to assess the functional significance of hierarchical and parallel processing. They evaluate the hypothesis that the brain uses sequential hierarchical and parallel distributed cortical networks in concert to compare the general features that classify an object grasped in the hand with its unique details. The experiments test important hypotheses concerning hand function: (1) Cortical representation of object size is an emergent property of hand use. (2) Population activity provides a better representation of object size and shape than the responses of individual neurons. (3) Tactile and proprioceptive inputs are bound together by synchrony of firing. (4) Hand movement enhances kinesthetic sensitivity. (5) Posterior parietal cortex encodes the spatial location of objects whereas the somatosensory areas of the lateral sulcus signal object form. Recordings made from populations of neurons distributed across the cerebral cortex will demonstrate how the brain integrates information from the fingers and from tactile and proprioceptive submodalities to form a unified percept of the grasped object. Synchronous measurement of the kinematics of hand movement and cortical electrophysiology will explain how the exploratory and manipulative procedures used to handle objects provide the sensory information necessary for fine motor control of the fingers and stereognostic appreciation of form. These studies will provide fundamental insights into the organization of cortical circuits, and the role of sequential hierarchical networks and parallel distributed processing in cortical function. The experimental paradigms will help define the neural basis of stereognosis, a major neurological test of hand function. They will provide novel and important neurophysiological data on sensorimotor integration in hand function, the tactile information processing capabilities of the cortex, the functional organization of different cytorarchitectural areas, and the temporal integration of spatial information within the cortex.