Project title
Integration of somatosensory submodalities for grip and touch
Project description
This multidisciplinary human neuroscience project will explore how tactile mechanosensory, thermosensory and proprioceptive inputs integrate during tactile exploration and haptic manipulation. Specific aims will be (1) to characterize and model the biomechanical and thermal interactions between manipulated objects and the skin, (2) to evaluate the sensory encoding properties of tactile mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors and proprioceptors and (3) to probe the cortical processes involved in thermosensory, mechanosensory and proprioceptive integration using a combination of psychophysical experiments, microneurography studies and electroencephalography (EEG) experiments in healthy human volunteers. The project will have implications for the design of haptic interfaces, virtual reality setups and hand prostheses integrating haptic feedback.
Host institution
This collaborative project will be hosted at the UCLouvain Institute of Neuroscience (Brussels, Belgium; http://uclouvain.be/ions). It will be coordinated by three principal investigators.
André Mouraux (http://nocions.org) is a neurologist and neuroscientist with expertise in thermonociception and EEG. Philippe Lefèvre (https://perso.uclouvain.be/philippe.lefevre) and Benoît Delhaye (https://delhayeben.github.io/) are engineers and neuroscientists working in the field of motor control and sensorimotor coordination.
Open positions
Three PhD positions (3x48 months) are available to perform this research project. Starting date is flexible, from October 2024.
Requirements:
Application
Applications should be sent by email to andre.mouraux@uclouvain.be as a single PDF document including: (1) a motivation letter, (2) a CV detailing their academic and professional background and their research experiences, and (3) at least one letter of recommendation from the master thesis promoter, internship supervisor or other.
Please contact andre.mouraux@uclouvain.be for additional information.
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