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Stop Animal
Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe
out animal experimentation"
Government Grants Promoting Cruelty to Animals
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
STEVEN S. HSIAO - Primate Testing - 2006
Grant Number: 5R01NS034086-11
Project Title: Attention and Tactile Processing in Somatosensory
Cortex
PI Information: PROFESSOR STEVEN S. HSIAO,
[email protected]
Abstract:
Funds are requested to continue our studies of how the shape is
represented and processed in the somatosensory system and to determine
how those representations are modulated by selective attention. In this
proposal we concentrate on determining how information from multiple
digits are integrated to form central representations of object shape.
These studies build on our previous studies showing that many neurons in
somatosensory cortex show feature selective responses to oriented bars,
the selectivity is in skin centered coordinates, and the sensitivity is
modulated by changes in hand conformation. From those findings we
hypothesize that shape perception is based on populations of neurons
integrating points of contact with the positions of the fingers. There
are two (2) specific aims. The first is to investigate how the points of
contact are integrated during the processing of two-dimensional (2D)
shapes. In these experiments, shapes that contact multiple digits are
decomposed into features that will be presented to the hand either alone
or in combination with other features while the animal performs a
tactile-visual matching task. This study will determine how independent
views of objects are integrated across digits to form neural
representations of two-dimensional (2D) objects. The study will also
determine the role that attention plays in the binding of tactile
features. The second aim is to determine how feature selectivity is
modulated by hand conformation. In these experiments, animals will be
trained to grasp three-dimensional (3D) objects with one (1) or more
digits. The objects are chosen such that they span the conformational
space that animals and humans use when grasping objects. These
experiments will test the hypothesis that shape perception is encoded by
populations of neurons with feature selective responses tuned to
specific hand conformations. Experiments will be performed in primary
(SI) and secondary (SII) somatosensory cortex.
Thesaurus Terms:
attention, brain mapping, form /pattern perception, neural information
processing, sensory discrimination, somesthetic sensory cortex, touch
electrophysiology, neurophysiology, psychophysics, sensory feedback,
sensory signal detection, space perception, stimulus /response, visual
perception, visual stimulus
Macaca mulatta, behavioral /social science research tag, clinical
research, human subject
Institution: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
W400 Wyman Park Building
BALTIMORE, MD 212182680
Fiscal Year: 2006
Department: NONE
Project Start: 30-SEP-1995
Project End: 28-FEB-2010
ICD: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
IRG: SCS
The Journal of Neuroscience, December 8, 2004, 24(49):11193-11204
Receptive Field Properties of the Macaque Second
Somatosensory Cortex: Evidence for Multiple Functional Representations
Paul J. Fitzgerald, John W. Lane, Pramodsingh H. Thakur, and Steven S.
Hsiao
Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Departments of Neuroscience and
Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
21218
Subjects.
Five cortical hemispheres of three rhesus monkeys (M. mulatta), weighing
5-7 kg, were studied. Two of the monkeys were male (monkeys 16H and
R1171), and one was female (monkey 2H). We recorded from both
hemispheres of monkeys 16H and 2H and from the right hemisphere of
monkey R1171 in the mapping study and from both hemispheres of monkeys
16H and 2H in the motorized oriented bar study.
All of the recordings were done while the monkeys were in a nearly
constant state of alertness. Two monkeys (16H and 2H) were trained to
perform a visual detection task. In this task, the monkey pressed a
lever with its foot to obtain a liquid reward when a 2 x 2� box,
presented on a video monitor, dimmed for 1.5 sec after a random interval
of 2-5 sec. The monkeys required 2-3 months of training to perform the
task at 90% correct or better. The third monkey (R1171) was kept alert
by giving it food treats at regular intervals.
Monkeys 16H and 2H were also trained to sit still with their hands
restrained during recording sessions that used the motorized oriented
bar. The palm of each hand was secured to a hand-holding base using
custom-molded thermoplastic (Smith & Nephew, Memphis, TN). The
individual fingers were then secured by gluing (PIC/PIC Apart; MCM
Electronics, Centerville, OH) the fingernails to the base. When fully
secured, the hand was supinated with the glabrous skin of digits 2-5
(D2-D5) exposed and these digits extending straight forward. Restraining
the hand allowed the stimulator to stimulate the digits in an accurate
and repeatable manner. Digit 1 was not studied using the stimulator
because it was not possible to comfortably hold this digit flat against
the hand-holder.
Surgery.
Before the microelectrode recordings, surgery was performed to secure a
head-holding device and recording chambers to the skull. Surgical
anesthesia was induced with ketamine HCl (20 mg/kg, i.m.) and maintained
with pentobarbital (10-25 mg � kg-1 � hr-1, i.v.). All surgical
procedures were done under sterile conditions and in accordance with the
rules and regulations of the Johns Hopkins Animal Care and Use Committee
and the Society for Neuroscience.
General recording techniques.
All recordings were performed with the monkeys in an awake,
unanesthetized state.
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Please email: STEVEN S. HSIAO,
[email protected] to protest the inhumane use of animals in this
experiment. We would also love to know about your efforts with this
cause:
[email protected]
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Rats, mice, birds, amphibians and other animals have
been excluded from coverage by the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore research
facility reports do not include these animals. As a result of this
situation, a blank report, or one with few animals listed, does not mean
that a facility has not performed experiments on non-reportable animals. A
blank form does mean that the facility in question has not used covered
animals (primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pigs,
sheep, goats, etc.). Rats and mice alone are believed to comprise over 90%
of the animals used in experimentation. Therefore the majority of animals
used at research facilities are not even counted.
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