Neural Engineering Center Seminar
Speaker: John Wright
Advisor: Prof. E. Graczyk
When using our hands to explore complex objects and environments, detecting the order, temporal overlap, and temporal gap between different somatosensory stimuli is crucial for effective object acquisition, discrimination, and grasp control. As such, understanding how temporal discrimination functions in sensation restored through peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is crucial to the development of neuro-prostheses that can closely mimic the sensory properties of natural somatosensation. This talk will discuss the temporal properties of touch using the temporal discrimination threshold (TDT), which describes the shortest temporal gap between two sequential stimuli required for them to be perceived as distinct. We will review the results from our recent experiments studying the TDT values for PNS sensation in two individuals with unilateral upper extremity amputation who are implanted with 16-contact composite flat interface nerve electrodes (C-FINEs) around the median, ulnar, and/or radial nerves in their residuum. We will also discuss how these findings may influence the use of combined patterning of location and timing to induce sensations such as movement through PNS.