Monthly Archives: February 2013

FIRST BRAIN-TO-BRAIN INTERFACE ALLOWS TRANSMISSION OF TACTILE AND MOTOR INFORMATION BETWEEN RATS

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Miguel Nicolelis LAB

A brain-to-brain interface (BTBI) enabled a real-time transfer of behaviorally meaningful sensorimotor information between the brains of two rats. In this BTBI, an ‘‘encoder’’ rat performed sensorimotor tasks that required it to select from two choices of tactile or visual … Continue reading →

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Simultaneous Top-down Modulation of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex and Thalamic Nuclei during Active Tactile Discrimination

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Miguel Nicolelis LAB

The rat somatosensory system contains multiple thalamocortical loops (TCLs) that altogether process, in fundamentally different ways, tactile stimuli delivered passively or actively sampled. To elucidate potential top-down mechanisms that governTCLprocessing in awake, behaving animals, we simultaneously recorded neuronal ensemble activity … Continue reading →

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Neuroprosthesis Gives Rats the Ability to “Touch” Infrared Light

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Miguel Nicolelis LAB

Sensory neuroprostheses show great potential for alleviating major sensory deficits. It is not known, however, whether such devices can augment the subject’s normal perceptual range. Here we show that adult rats can learn to perceive otherwise invisible infrared light through … Continue reading →

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