Electrophysiological characterization of texture information slip-resistance dependent in the rat vibrissal nerve

FARFÁN, FERNANDO DANIEL; ALBARRACÍN, ANA LIA; FELICE, CARMELO JOSÉ

BMC NEUROSCIENCE

BIOMED CENTRAL LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 12 p. 1 - 11

1471-2202

Studies in tactile discrimination agree that rats are able to learn a rough-smooth discrimination taskby actively touching (whisking) objects with their vibrissae. In particular, we focus on recent evidence of how neurons at different levels of the sensory pathway carry information about tactile stimuli. Here, we analyzed the multifiber afferent discharge of one vibrissal nerve during active whisking. Vibrissae movements were induced by electrical stimulation of motor branches of the facial nerve. We used sandpapers of different grain size as roughness discrimination surfaces and we also consider the change of vibrissal slip-resistance as a way to improve tactile information acquisition. The amplitude of afferent activity was analyzed according to its Root Mean Square value (RMS). The comparisons among experimental situation were quantified by using the information theory.