Objective The main objective of the ROSANA project is to provide the theoretical knowledge and the experimental tools to artificially stimulate the peripheral nerves in such a way that the elicited responses of the neural populations of the somatosensory system are similar to those generated by natural stimuli.Specific objectives are:1) to determine how the interactions between sensory inputs and the activity of CNS neurones are used for creating the internal representation of real-world stimuli in the first stations of the somatosensory system, and;2) to develop mathematical models of neural signal processing which are capable to reproduce the activity generated by specific stimulation of the skin surface and to provoke the equivalent neural activity in the target stations of the somatosensory system.DESCRIPTION OF WORKTo achieve the above mentioned objectives one needs to know 1) the relations between peripheral stimulation patterns (stimuli to the skin) and the electrical activity of the sensory nerves and 2) the normal activity of the processing neurones and the interactions between incoming electrical signals and processing neurones in an early station of the somatosensory system. Then one must be able to produce artificial stimulation patterns which could provoke the equivalent neural activity in the target stations of he somatosensory system. For this the following operational sequence is proposed:1) Implantation of a sieve microelectrode in a sensory nerve of a cat to record neural activity and stimulate electrically a small number of individual sensory fibres;2) After complete regeneration of the nerve fibres stimulation of a small region of the skin by means of a battery of mechanical stimuli;3) During skin stimulation recording of the activity of small ensembles of nerve fibres (5-10) that have been regenerated through the sieve holes (10-100), the activity in the cuneate nucleus (8-12 simultaneous extra cellular single-unit recordings), and the activity in the somatosensory cortex (3-4 electrodes designed for unitary recordings);4) Data analysis to establish categories for the most important mechanical stimuli according to the responses of the processing neurones. Relevant stimuli will be artificially replicated by means of direct stimulation of the sensory nerve trough the implanted microelectrode. The experimental data will be analysed to develop mathematical models for the processing of the sensory stimuli. Finally the resulting models will be tested both by "ad hoc" generation of electrical patterns and the artificial stimulation of the sensory nerve through the implanted microelectrodes. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata scienceengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsignal processingnatural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model Programme(s) FP5-IST - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on a "User-friendly information society, 1998-2002" Topic(s) IST-2001-6.2.3 - Lifelike perception systems Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID EU contribution No data Address AVENIDA SENECA 2 EDIFICIO SENECA 28040 MADRID Spain See on map Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ASSOCIACAO DO INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR E CELULAR (AIBMC) Portugal EU contribution No data Address RUA DO CAMPO ALEGRE, 823 4150-180 PORTO See on map Total cost No data FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V. Germany EU contribution No data Address HANSASTRASSE 27C 80686 MUENCHEN See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID Spain EU contribution No data Address CANTOBLANCO - CARRETERA DE COLMENAR KM 15 28049 MADRID See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF EXETER United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address Northcote House, The Queen's Drive EXETER See on map Total cost No data
