Neural basis of tactile object perception in SI cortex

 描述(申请人提供)：本方案的目标是研究非人灵长类动物初级躯体感觉皮层手部和指部区域的组织和回路。手和手指的行为是灵长类动物行为中物体识别的定义方面，是不同类型的工具使用、打字、短信和肢体语言的核心。尽管如此，关于感觉(触觉和本体感觉)加工不同阶段的皮层回路知之甚少。这项建议将使用多种解剖学和功能方法来发现初级体感区域(3a、3b、1和2)的手部表示中的功能柱之间的区域内和区域间连接模式。这些方法将包括解剖束追踪和功能束追踪(在焦点电刺激和脉冲近红外激光刺激期间使用光学成像和功能磁共振成像)。我们将研究这些回路在行为过程中的作用。这些研究将为将感觉引导纳入手动运动假体提供宝贵的数据，这是一个目前知之甚少的领域。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to investigate the organization and circuitry within the hand and digit region of primary somatosensory cortex in nonhuman primates. Hand and digit behavior are defining aspects of object identification in primate behavior, and are central to different types of tool use, typing, texting, and body language. Despite this, little is known regarding the cortical circuitry underlying different stage of sensory (tactile and proprioceptive) processing. This proposal will use multiple anatomical and functional approaches to discover the intra-areal and inter-areal connectivity patterns between functional columns in the hand representation of primary somatosensory areas (3a, 3b, 1, and 2). These approaches will include anatomical tract tracing and functional tract tracing (using optical imaging and fMRI during focal electrical and pulsed near infrared laser stimulation). The role of these circuits during behavior will be examined. These studies will provide invaluable data for incorporation of sensory guidance in manual motor prosthetics, an area in which there is currently little understanding.