newly discovered sensory map in mammalian brain

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McGovern Institute's Determines that Rats `Hear'

Sensory Input With Their Whiskers Using a Newly-Discovered Sensory Map

in the Brain

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2004--

- Principal Investigator Authors Paper Published in Neuron

Magazine -

- Discovery First of Its Kind in Mammals; Rats' Harp-Like Whiskers

Transform Touch Sensations Just as the Ear Translates Sound -

The McGovern Institute at MIT, a leading research and teaching institute

committed to advancing understanding of the human mind and

communications, announced today that , one of its

Principal Investigators has authored a paper published in the current

issue of Neuron Magazine that outlines the discovery of a new sensory

map in a mammalian brain. likened the findings to the discovery of

sonar in bats that has led the development of technology that guides

aircraft and tracks weather patterns.

Rats and mice are the most important and widespread model system for

scientific studies, and the facial whiskers are essential to rodent

perception--trimming the whiskers will lead, for example, to difficulty

swimming if they are placed in water. " Neural Correlates of Vibrissa

Resonance: Band-Pass and Somatotopic Representation of High-Frequency

Stimuli " reveals that rat whiskers act like strings on a harp--they

vibrate when they are 'plucked' by sensory stimuli. Like a harp or piano

string, or like the cochlea of the inner ear, whiskers tend to vibrate

best at specific frequencies, selectively pulling this vibratory

information from the environment. This newly discovered property lead to

the further discovery of a new map of timing in the brain, overlapping

the region where researchers once only believed a map of space existed.

By uniquely representing frequency information, this new map in the

brain may also allow rats to 'hear' with their vibrissae, or to sense

subtle changes in wind currents related to, for example, an oncoming cat

or an owl flapping its wings as it hunts the animal.

While extremely complex, the implications of this work suggest important

points:

-- A rat's whiskers actually work in similar fashion to a harp;

-- The discovery of a new map in mammalian brains;

-- Identifies an interesting convergence of evolution, as it appears

that the ear and the vibrissae may have evolved to solve similar

problems in a parallel fashion;

-- Raises consideration that mammals may collect information from

vibrations, sound waves and environmental changes by senses other than

sight, touch and hearing; and

-- These findings may eventually assist in developing advanced sensory

technologies in sensory assistance devices, for example, these findings

in the whisker suggest avenues for more optimal construction of blind

person's canes and sensors for the navigation of dark underwater

environments.

About the McGovern Institute at MIT

The McGovern Institute at MIT is a research and teaching institute

committed to advancing human understanding and communications. The goal

of the McGovern Institute is to investigate and ultimately understand

the biological basis of all higher brain function in humans. The

McGovern Institute conducts integrated research in neuroscience, genetic

and cellular neurobiology, cognitive science, computation, and related

areas.

By determining how the brain works, from the level of gene expression in

individual neurons to the interrelationships between complex neural

networks, the McGovern Institute's efforts work to improve human health,

discover the basis of learning and recognition, and enhance education

and communication. The McGovern Institute contributes to the most basic

knowledge of the fundamental mysteries of human awareness, decisions,

and actions.

About

is an Investigator at the McGovern Institute and an

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at MIT's Department of Brain and

Cognitive Sciences. works on understanding the neural mechanisms

of tactile perception. His work focuses on the context-dependent

representation of information in somatosensory cortex, and tactile

motion processing. To investigate these questions, he employs

electrophysiological and imaging (optical imaging and fMRI) approaches

in humans and animal model systems.

earned his doctorate in Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT, and

conducted his postdoctoral work at The os Center and UCSF. He

joined the McGovern Institute in 2003 as both an Assistant Professor of

Systems Neuroscience and a McGovern Investigator. , who has

published more than 20 studies and abstracts in peer review, is a member

of the Society for Neuroscience and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society.