Active and passive dynamic touch
This project focuses on the development of (1) novel techniques to generate tactile sensations such as the perception of textures (2) novel approaches to explore the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the sense of touch at the level of the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system and (3) novel signal-processing methods and computational neuroscience techniques to characterize the neural encoding of the tactile input generated by finger interactions with tactile displays. It is increasingly recognized that the active perception of textures emerges from the vibrations induced by sliding the finger on the textured surface. Based on the recording of SS-EPs, we developed a new method co characterize the cortical activity related to tactile processing using a wide variety of textures, ranging from gratings to natural textures. Our experiments were conducted in passive dynamic touch, i.e. passive presentation of the stimuli by a high-precision force-feedback platform. Our results have shown that a significant part of the recorded brain responses reflect the processing of the texture-induced vibrations that are generated on our skin. Currently, our aim is to better understand the cortical differences between “active” and “passive” touch, i.e. dynamic touch with and without voluntary movement using matching stimuli, with the help of the force platform.

Researchers involved
Publications
2017
The Tactile Perception of Transient Changes in Friction
Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Gueorguiev D, Vezzoli E, Mouraux A, Lemaire-Semail B, Thonnard JL.
14(137). pii: 20170641
2016
Touch uses frictional cues to discriminate flat materials
Nature : Scientific Reports
Gueorguiev D, Bochereau S, Mouraux A, Hayward V, Thonnard JL.
6:25553
2016
EEG frequency tagging to explore the cortical activity related to the tactile exploration of natural textures
Nature : Scientific Reports
Moungou A, Thonnard JL, Mouraux A.
6:20738
2015
Peripheral vs. central determinants of vibrotactile adaptation
Journal of Neurophysiology
Klocker A, Gueorguiev D, Thonnard JL, Mouraux A.
115(2):685-91
2016
A novel method using EEG to characterize the cortical processes involved in active and passive touch
IEEE Haptics Symposium
Moungou A, Thonnard JL, Mouraux A.
IEEE - Haptic Symposium 2016, Apr 2016, Philadelphia, United States
2015
Using EEG (SS-EPs) to characterize the brain activity in response to textured stimuli in passive touch
IEEE World Haptics Conference
Moungou A, Thonnard JL, Mouraux A.
7177700: 113-118
2010
Tactile roughness discrimination threshold is unrelated to tactile spatial acuity
Behavioural Brain Researchearch
Libouton X, Barbier O, Plaghki L, Thonnard JL.
208(2): 473-478