A non-human primate model for bimanual touch

项目总结/摘要 灵长类动物的双手可以一起使用，也可以独立使用，因此神经系统必须支持灵活的感觉 两种模式来协调双手的信号处理。可以想象，专门的电路存在， 协调来自双手（双手触摸）的感觉输入的中央处理，类似于专用的 支持双眼视觉和双耳听觉的机制。此前的努力主要集中在 了解单手的体感处理，神经系统如何支持双手操作， 触摸基本上是未知的。这项研究计划的长期目标是建立一个了解 双手触摸信号是如何在灵长类大脑中编码和加工的。由于人类和非人类灵长类动物（NHP）都有用手感知触觉的能力，因此NHP是研究触觉神经结构的理想模型。该项目的近期目标是建立一个实验平台， 操纵和测量双手知觉和NHP的神经编码。拟议的工作结合了 行为和神经记录。这项工作的第一个目的是调查猴子是如何 感知双手上的触觉提示。我们将利用一种范式， 双手感知的相互作用。这项工作的第二个目的是研究神经如何 初级躯体感觉皮层（S1）中的群体代表双手触摸。这些实验被证明是正确的。 先前的工作表明，S1神经活动对刺激对侧的手可以调制 刺激同侧的手。我们将检验S1中双手交互是上下文的假设- 通过表征动物对触觉线索的使用如何决定对双手的S1反应， touch.意义：拟议的工作将揭示NHP和人类之间新颖的对应情感 建立一个易于操作的模型，用于研究双手触摸的神经基础。确定同侧 和对侧手信号在S1中的相互作用可以为理解 双手神经元在高级躯体感觉区的功能作用以及躯体感觉 系统支持灵活的感官行为。广泛影响：该项目为未来奠定了基础 研究双手信号如何在灵长类大脑中组合或分离以介导感知 和运动功能。这可能有助于深入了解发育和精神障碍， 由异常的感觉运动处理引起，如多动症、自闭症和精神分裂症。网络层面的理解 的躯体感觉通信可以告知感觉运动功能如何随着年龄的增长而变化， 认知能力下降至关重要的是，这项工作将告知双手神经假体的设计，以恢复灵巧 手功能丧失的人。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Primates use their hands together or independently, so the nervous system must support flexible sensory modes to coordinate signal processing from the two hands. Conceivably, specialized circuits exist to coordinate central processing of sensory inputs from the two hands (bimanual touch), resembling dedicated mechanisms supporting binocular vision and binaural hearing. Prior efforts have focused primarily on understanding somatosensory processing on a single hand, so how the nervous system supports bimanual touch is essentially unknown. The long-term goal of this research program is to establish an understanding of how bimanual touch signals are encoded and elaborated in the primate brain. Because human and non-human primates (NHP) share the ability to sense touch using their hands, NHP are an ideal model for studying the neural constructs of touch. The immediate goal of this project is to establish an experimental platform for manipulating and measuring bimanual perception and neural coding in NHP. The proposed work combines behavior and neural recordings in macaque monkeys. The first aim of the work is to investigate how monkeys perceive tactile cues presented on two hands. We will leverage a paradigm that has previously revealed bimanual perceptual interactions in humans. The second aim of the work is to investigate how neural populations in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) represent bimanual touch. These experiments are premised on prior work showing that S1 neural activity to stimulation on the contralateral hand can be modulated by stimulation on the ipsilateral hand. We will test the hypothesis that bimanual interactions in S1 are context- dependent by characterizing how the animal’s use of the tactile cues determines S1 responses to bimanual touch. Significance: The proposed work will unveil novel correspondent sensibilities between NHP and humans to establish a tractable model for investigating the neural basis of bimanual touch. Establishing how ipsilateral and contralateral hand signals interact in S1 can inform a conceptual framework for understanding the functional role of bimanual neurons in higher-order somatosensory regions and how the somatosensory system supports flexible sensory behavior. Broad Impact: This project lays the groundwork for future investigations on how bimanual signals are combined or segregated in the primate brain to mediate perception and motor function. This may yield insight into developmental and psychiatric disorders that are characterized by aberrant sensorimotor processing such as ADHD, ASD, and schizophrenia. A network-level understanding of somatosensory communication can inform how sensorimotor functions changes with aging and age-related cognitive decline. Crucially, this work will inform the design of bimanual neuroprostheses to restore dexterous hand function in those who has lost it.