R35NS122333

Sensory Mechanisms of Manual Dexterity and Their Application to Neuroprosthetics - Project Summary

Manual behavior requires sensory signals from the hand, both tactile and proprioceptive, as evidenced by the severe deficits that result from somatosensory deafferentation. However, three aspects of the sensory component of hand sensory function are poorly understood.

First, the neural basis of touch has been studied almost exclusively with stimuli delivered passively to the skin, precluding any understanding of how tactile signals are modulated by and interact with motor commands.

Second, proprioceptive signals carry information not only about the time-varying conformation of the hand but also about manually applied forces. However, proprioceptive representations of force are poorly understood.

Third, stereognosis - the sense of the three-dimensional shape of objects acquired from sensory signals arising from the hand - implies the integration of tactile and proprioceptive signals, a process about which little is known.

The study of active touch, hand proprioception, and stereognosis has been hindered by technical obstacles. Characterizing self-generated contact with objects has been difficult or impossible, as has tracking hand movements with sufficient precision.

To overcome these obstacles, my team has developed an apparatus that allows us to measure contact events - with a sensor sheet covering the object's surface - and track time-varying hand postures - using deep learning-based computer vision - with unprecedented precision as animals interact with objects. We then characterize the responses at every stage along the somatosensory neuraxis, from peripheral nerve through cortex. This novel experimental setup will allow us to study the neural basis of somatosensation - particularly as it relates to manual dexterity - under ecologically valid conditions.

In a related line of inquiry, we leverage what we learn about sensory processing to restore the sense of touch to bionic hands. We develop algorithms to convert the output of sensors on the bionic hand into patterns of electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerve (for amputees) or of somatosensory cortex (for people with tetraplegia) to evoke meaningful tactile percepts.

I am one of the principal architects of the biomimetic approach to artificial touch, which posits that encoding algorithms that mimic natural neural signals will give rise to more intuitive tactile percepts, thereby endowing bionic hands with greater dexterity. Our work on artificial touch comprises three components: evaluation of the perceptual correlates of electrical stimulation, development of sensory encoding algorithms, and assessment of the benefits of artificial touch to manual behavior.

The interplay of the basic scientific results and neural engineering efforts will result in more naturalistic artificial touch for brain-controlled bionic hands.

University Of Chicago

(1) TO SUPPORT EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE (NINDS) INCLUDING: BASIC RESEARCH THAT EXPLORES THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE CAUSES AND ORIGINS OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH THE GOAL OF PREVENTING THESE DISORDERS, RESEARCH ON THE NATURAL COURSE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, IMPROVED METHODS OF DISEASE PREVENTION, NEW METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL DEVICES, CLINICAL TRIALS, AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE. THE INSTITUTE IS THE LARGEST FUNDER OF BASIC NEUROSCIENCE IN THE US AND SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON TOPICS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING NEUROGENESIS AND PROGENITOR CELL BIOLOGY, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN DEVELOPMENT AND PLASTICITY, AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH, SYNAPSE FORMATION, FUNCTION, AND PLASTICITY, LEARNING AND MEMORY, CHANNELS, TRANSPORTERS, AND PUMPS, CIRCUIT FORMATION AND MODULATION, BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE, SENSORIMOTOR LEARNING, INTEGRATION AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, NEUROENDOCRINE SYSTEMS, SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, AND SENSORY AND MOTOR SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION, THE INSTITUTE SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON A NUMBER OF DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO): STROKE, TRAUMATIC INJURY TO THE BRAIN, SPINAL CORD AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, MOVEMENT DISORDERS, BRAIN TUMORS, CONVULSIVE DISORDERS, INFECTIOUS DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, IMMUNE DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, DISORDERS RELATED TO SLEEP, AND PAIN. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS, WHICH ARE PRIMARILY SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE, ARE ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES, THE DIVISION OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE DIVISION OF CLINICAL RESEARCH, THE OFFICE OF TRAINING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, THE OFFICE OF PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE NEUROSCIENCE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. (2) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM, TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.853 - Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NNDS) [HHS - NIH]

Illinois United States

State-Wide

Research Program Award (R35 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-NS-20-030)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 04/30/29 to 04/30/25 and the total obligations have increased 307% from $1,094,647 to $4,460,055.