Finding ways to build children's sensory skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Paula Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
And Control

Paula Brown takes a look at the theory underpinning how children process sensory information and provides practical tips on helping them integrate their experiences and control their responses.

Neuromuscular Control of Movement

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Neuromuscular Control ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Locomotor Rhythm ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Reflex Pathways ◽  
Local Reflex ◽  
Local Circuits ◽  
And Control

The control of movement is essential for animals traversing complex environments and operating across a range of speeds and gaits. We consider how animals process sensory information and initiate motor responses, primarily focusing on simple motor responses that involve local reflex pathways of feedback and control, rather than the more complex, longer-term responses that require the broader integration of higher centers within the nervous system. We explore how local circuits facilitate decentralized coordination of locomotor rhythm and examine the fundamentals of sensory receptors located in the muscles, tendons, joints, and at the animal’s body surface. These sensors monitor the animal’s physical environment and the action of its muscles. The sensory information is then carried back to the animal’s nervous system by afferent neurons, providing feedback that is integrated at the level of the spinal cord of vertebrates and sensory-motor ganglia of invertebrates.

scholarly journals Review of robotic manipulators and identification of the main problems

2018 ◽  
Vol 226 ◽  
pp. 02015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenia I. Goryanina ◽  
Aleksndr D. Lukyanov ◽  
Oleg I. Katin
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Navigation Systems ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Intelligent Robots ◽  
Automation Systems ◽  
Mechanical Manipulators ◽  
And Control

One of the main elements of automation of industrial enterprises is the use of robotic systems consisting of mechanical manipulators and control systems. In recent years, the market of service robotics has been actively developing. The main part of the market of professional service robots in value terms is occupied by medical devices. Agriculture and logistics are also actively developing areas. The success of the automation systems implementation depends on the solution of complex scientific and technical problems, primarily in the following areas: machine vision; sensor networks; navigation systems. Thus, one of the fundamental problems, the solution of which largely depends on the success in creating the perfect adaptive and intelligent robots, is the use of such types of sensors of sensory information, which allow obtaining a sufficiently large amount of information about the problem environment in a short time. This is a problem of creating means of perception.

scholarly journals Advantages of comparative studies in songbirds to understand the neural basis of sensorimotor integration

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 800-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karagh Murphy ◽  
Logan S. James ◽  
Jon T. Sakata ◽  
Jonathan F. Prather
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Sensorimotor Integration ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Communication Behaviors ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Evolutionary Variation ◽  
And Control

Sensorimotor integration is the process through which the nervous system creates a link between motor commands and associated sensory feedback. This process allows for the acquisition and refinement of many behaviors, including learned communication behaviors such as speech and birdsong. Consequently, it is important to understand fundamental mechanisms of sensorimotor integration, and comparative analyses of this process can provide vital insight. Songbirds offer a powerful comparative model system to study how the nervous system links motor and sensory information for learning and control. This is because the acquisition, maintenance, and control of birdsong critically depend on sensory feedback. Furthermore, there is an incredible diversity of song organizations across songbird species, ranging from songs with simple, stereotyped sequences to songs with complex sequencing of vocal gestures, as well as a wide diversity of song repertoire sizes. Despite this diversity, the neural circuitry for song learning, control, and maintenance remains highly similar across species. Here, we highlight the utility of songbirds for the analysis of sensorimotor integration and the insights about mechanisms of sensorimotor integration gained by comparing different songbird species. Key conclusions from this comparative analysis are that variation in song sequence complexity seems to covary with the strength of feedback signals in sensorimotor circuits and that sensorimotor circuits contain distinct representations of elements in the vocal repertoire, possibly enabling evolutionary variation in repertoire sizes. We conclude our review by highlighting important areas of research that could benefit from increased comparative focus, with particular emphasis on the integration of new technologies.

scholarly journals Multisensory Integration as per Technological Advances: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Cornelio ◽  
Carlos Velasco ◽  
Marianna Obrist
Keyword(s):  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Sensory Stimulation ◽  
Taste Perception ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
And Control ◽  
Virtual Events

Multisensory integration research has allowed us to better understand how humans integrate sensory information to produce a unitary experience of the external world. However, this field is often challenged by the limited ability to deliver and control sensory stimuli, especially when going beyond audio–visual events and outside laboratory settings. In this review, we examine the scope and challenges of new technology in the study of multisensory integration in a world that is increasingly characterized as a fusion of physical and digital/virtual events. We discuss multisensory integration research through the lens of novel multisensory technologies and, thus, bring research in human–computer interaction, experimental psychology, and neuroscience closer together. Today, for instance, displays have become volumetric so that visual content is no longer limited to 2D screens, new haptic devices enable tactile stimulation without physical contact, olfactory interfaces provide users with smells precisely synchronized with events in virtual environments, and novel gustatory interfaces enable taste perception through levitating stimuli. These technological advances offer new ways to control and deliver sensory stimulation for multisensory integration research beyond traditional laboratory settings and open up new experimentations in naturally occurring events in everyday life experiences. Our review then summarizes these multisensory technologies and discusses initial insights to introduce a bridge between the disciplines in order to advance the study of multisensory integration.

scholarly journals Dynamics and stability of running on rough terrains

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 181729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nihav Dhawale ◽  
Shreyas Mandre ◽  
Madhusudhan Venkadesan
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Dimensionless Parameter ◽  
Sagittal Plane ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Rough Terrain ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Flat Surfaces ◽  
And Control ◽  
Flat Ground

Stability of running on rough terrain depends on the propagation of perturbations due to the ground. We consider stability within the sagittal plane and model the dynamics of running as a two-dimensional body with alternating aerial and stance phases. Stance is modelled as a passive, impulsive collision followed by an active, impulsive push-off that compensates for collisional losses. Such a runner has infinitely many strategies to maintain periodic gaits on flat ground. However, these strategies differ in how perturbations due to terrain unevenness are propagated. Instabilities manifest as tumbling (orientational instability) or failing to maintain a steady speed (translational instability). We find that open-loop strategies that avoid sensory feedback are sufficient to maintain stability on step-like terrains with piecewise flat surfaces that randomly vary in height. However, these open-loop runners lose orientational stability on rough terrains whose slope also varies randomly. The orientational instability is significantly mitigated by minimizing the tangential collision, which typically requires sensory information and anticipatory strategies such as leg retraction. By analysing the propagation of perturbations, we derive a single dimensionless parameter that governs stability. This parameter provides guidelines for the design and control of both biological and robotic runners.

A non-invasive wearable sensory leg neuroprosthesis: mechanical, electrical and functional validation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Basla ◽  
Lauren Chee ◽  
Giacomo Valle ◽  
Stanisa Raspopovic
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Tactile Feedback ◽  
Gait Symmetry ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Gait Parameters ◽  
Safety And Reliability ◽  
Risk Of Falls ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
And Control

Abstract Objective. Lower limb amputees suffer from a variety of functional deficits related to the absence of sensory communication between the central nervous system and the lost extremity. Indeed, they experience high risk of falls, asymmetric walking and balance, and low prosthesis embodiment, that significantly decrease their quality of life. Presently, there are no commercially available devices able to provide sensory feedback to leg amputees. Recently, some invasive solutions (i.e. requiring a surgery) have been proposed by different research groups, however a non-invasive effective alternative exploitable in everyday life is still missing. Approach. To address this need we developed and tested a lightweight, non-invasive, wearable technology (NeuroLegs) providing sensory (i.e. knee angle joint and tactile) feedback to the users through electro-cutaneous stimulation. A user-friendly GUI and mobile App have been developed to easily calibrate and control the system. Standard mechanical and electrical tests were performed to assess the safety and reliability of the technology. Main results. No mechanical failures, stable communication among system parts and a long-lasting battery (>23h) were demonstrated. The NeuroLegs system was then verified in terms of accuracy in measuring relevant gait parameters in healthy participants. A high temporal reliability was found when detecting stride features (important for the real-time configuration) with a correct match to the walking cadence, in all assessed walking conditions. The effectiveness of the NeuroLegs system at improving walking of three transfemoral amputees was then verified in movement laboratory tests. Increased temporal gait symmetry and augmented confidence were found. Stepping outside from the lab, Neurolegs was successfully exploited by a transfemoral amputee in CYBATHLON Global Edition 2020 in several challenging situations related to daily-living activities. Significance. Our results demonstrate that the NeuroLegs system provides the user with useful sensory information that can be successfully exploited in different walking conditions of daily life.

Receptor saturation controls short-term synaptic plasticity at corticothalamic synapses

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 2319-2329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Gang Sun ◽  
Michael Beierlein
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Short Term Plasticity ◽  
Thalamic Relay ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Ventrobasal Nucleus ◽  
And Control ◽  
Receptor Saturation

Glutamatergic synapses of layer 6 corticothalamic (CT) neurons form a major excitatory input onto thalamic relay cells, allowing neocortex to continuously control sensory information processing in thalamic circuits. CT synapses display both short- and long-term forms of use-dependent synaptic enhancement, mediated at least in part by increases in the probability of transmitter release. At some synapses, such increases in release probability are accompanied by a higher degree of multivesicular release (MVR) and larger glutamate transients at individual release sites, resulting in the saturation of postsynaptic receptors. The extent to which MVR and postsynaptic saturation interact and control short-term plasticity at CT synapses is not known. Here we examined two distinct presynaptic forms of short-term enhancement, facilitation and augmentation, at CT synapses contacting relay neurons in the ventrobasal nucleus of the mouse thalamus. We found that, in the presence of the low-affinity antagonist γ-d-glutamylglycine, to relieve postsynaptic dl-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisox azole-propionic acid (AMPA) receptor saturation, the magnitude of facilitation and augmentation increased. Whereas receptor saturation was prominent for both AMPA and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors, desensitization of AMPA receptors did not significantly alter short-term plasticity. Our results suggest that at CT synapses the activity-dependent increase in synaptic strength is controlled by postsynaptic receptor saturation.

Do you hear what I see? An audio-visual paradigm to assess emotional egocentricity bias

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Von Mohr ◽  
Gianluca Finotti ◽  
Klaudia ◽  
Manos Tsakiris
Keyword(s):  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
And Control

We often use our own emotions to understand other people’s emotions. However, emotional egocentric biases (EEB), namely the tendency to use one’s own emotional state when relating to others’ emotions may hinder this process, especially when emotions are incongruent. We capitalized on the classic EEB task to develop a new version that is easier to implement and control. Unlike the original EEB that relies on a combination of private (e.g. touch) and public (e.g. vision) sensory information, our EEB task (AV-EEB) used audio-visual stimuli to evoke (in)congruent emotions among participants. Auditory and visual signals are both public and make the task easier to implement and control. We provide lab-based and online validations of the AV-EEB, and demonstrate a positive relationship between EEB and social negative potency. This new easily implemented version of the EEB task can accelerate the investigation of egocentricity biases in several research areas.

Multisensory Interactions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin V. Butz ◽  
Esther F. Kutter
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
The Body ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Multisensory Interactions ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
Surrounding Space ◽  
Episodic Memories ◽  
And Control

This chapter shows that multiple sensory information sources can generally be integrated in a similar fashion. However, seeing that different modalities are grounded in different frames of reference, integrations will focus on space or on identities. Body-relative spaces integrate information about the body and the surrounding space in body-relative frames of reference, integrating the available information across modalities in an approximately optimal manner. Simple topological neural population encodings are well-suited to generate estimates about stimulus locations and to map several frames of reference onto each other. Self-organizing neural networks are introduced as the basic computation mechanism that enables the learning of such mappings. Multisensory object recognition, on the other hand, is realized most effectively in an object-specific frame of reference – essentially abstracting away from body-relative frames of reference. Cognitive maps, that is, maps of the environment are learned by connecting locations over space and time. The hippocampus strongly supports the learning of cognitive maps, as it supports the generation of new episodic memories, suggesting a strong relation between these two computational tasks. In conclusion, multisensory integration yields internal predictive structures about spaces and object identities, which are well-suited to plan, decide on, and control environmental interactions.

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