Background: The knowledge of the effects of prenatal sensory environment on the development of sensory systems and other behavioral traits has important implications with regard to the optimum management of preterm infants. There is a controversy regarding the potential benefits and hazards of providing supplemental sensory stimulation to preterm infants. The views range from the perceived impo...

The possible interaction among different sensory units in the frog tongue was studied using several single papillae dually innervated by the medial and lateral branches of the glossopharyngeal (IXth) nerve. The afferent activity in one branch exposed to NaCl stimulation of the papilla revealed marked inhibition after antidromic electrical stimulation (100 Hz, 30 s, and 3 V) of the other branch....

An incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs neural conduction along spared ascending sensory pathways to disrupt the control of residual motor movements. To characterize how SCI affects the activation of the motor cortex by spared ascending sensory pathways, we examined how stimulation of leg afferents facilitates the excitability of the motor cortex in subjects with incomplete SCI. Homo- an...

The impact of traumatic spinal cord injury on structural integrity, cortical reorganization and ensuing disability is variable and may depend on a dynamic interaction between the severity of local damage and the capacity of the brain for plastic reorganization. We investigated trauma-induced anatomical changes in the spinal cord and brain, and explored their relationship to functional changes i...

In this study we show how simulated robots evolved to display a navigation skills can spontaneously develop an internal model and rely on it to complete their task when sensory stimulation is temporarily unavailable. The analysis of some of the best evolved agents indicates that their internal model operates by anticipating functional properties of the next sensory state rather than the exact s...

Background: Brain injuries are a major cause of mortality and disability. Sensory stimulation can reduce the complications of brain injuries in the patients.  Objectives: To compare the effect of foot reflexology with tactile stimulation of the hand on level of consciousness and physiological indicators in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients  Materials & Methods: 60 TBI patients hospitalize...

In the mammalian brain, thalamic signals reach the cortex via two major routes: primary and higher-order thalamocortical pathways. While primary thalamocortical nuclei transmit sensory signals from the periphery, the function of higher-order thalamocortical projections remains enigmatic, in particular their role in sensory processing in the cortex. Here, by optogenetically controlling the thala...

Current views of sensory adaptation in the rat somatosensory system suggest that it results mainly from short-term synaptic depression. Experimental and theoretical studies predict that increasing the intensity of sensory stimulation, followed by an increase in firing probability at early sensory stages, is expected to attenuate the response at later stages disproportionately more than weaker s...