Vibrotactile sensitivity of freely behaving rats and operant conditioning by intracortical microstimulation

In this study, 5 adult Wistar albino rats were trained to detect presence or absence of mechanical vibrations applied on the volar surface of their hindpaws. Vibrotactile sensitivity of glabrous skin of these rats were psychophysically tested at 3 frequencies. 3 out of 5 rats were implanted with microwire arrays in their primary somatosensory cortex hindpaw representation and trained to detect the presence or absence of electrical current pulses injected through these electrodes. Rats were psychophysically tested as in tactile experiments. The results indicate that intracortical microstimulation generates neural activity which results in similar psychophysical performance as in the tactile experiments. We are working to utilize this principle in somatosensory neuroprostheses.