In this paper, an original automatic design synthesis methodology based on evolutionary computation is proposed for designing and optimizing distributed embodied systems. To validate the efficacy of this evolutionary design methodology, it was applied to an initial case study concerned with the configuration of a collective sensory system for intelligent vehicles. Results are presented from sim...

Typically, in everyday situations, auditory input is constantly changing. Change is an important cue for the auditory system, which can signal the start of new sources of information or that some action may be required. Using an event-related brain potential that can be elicited whether or not attention is focused on the sounds (the mismatch negativity, MMN) we measured the time course of the e...

One of the great challenges of systems neuroscience is to understand how the neocortex transforms neuronal representations of the physical characteristics of sensory stimuli into the percepts which can guide the animal's decisions. Here we present progress made in understanding behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of a highly efficient sensory apparatus, the rat whisker system. Beginning w...

Both respiratory centres and the preganglionic vagal motoneurones, which control respiratory (striated) and airway (smooth) muscles respectively, receive information on the lungs, the circulation and the skeletal and respiratory muscles. Each of these nervous pathways has two components: one is phasic, i.e. in phase with biological rhythms, and comes from mechanoreceptors connected to large mye...

The auditory system displays modulations in sensitivity that can align with the temporal structure of the acoustic environment. This sensory entrainment can facilitate sensory perception and is particularly relevant for audition. Systems neuroscience is slowly uncovering the neural mechanisms underlying the behaviorally observed sensory entrainment effects in the human sensory system. The prese...

The paper presents a wearable sensory system aimed at tracking of motion parameters and estimation of kinematic data of the wearer for use in controlling active lowerlimb ortho-prostheses. The sensory system comprises inertial and magnetic measurement units (IMUs) attached to body segments and sensorized insoles worn inside sneaker shoes. Through sensory fusion, the IMUs data is used to produce...