Sound changes the way rodents sense touch

Date:  December 28, 2018

Source:  Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Our eyes, ears and skin are responsible for different senses. Moreover, our brain assigns these senses to different regions: the visual cortex, auditory cortex and somatosensory cortex. However, it is clear that there are anatomical connections between these different cortices such that brain activation to one sense can influence brain activation to another. A new study by the laboratory of Associate Professor Shoji Komai at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Japan, seen in PLOS ONE, explains how auditory stimulation of the barrel cortex influences responses to tactile stimulation in mice and rats.

The barrel cortex is one of the most highly studied primary somatosensory systems in animals, that is, systems in our brain sensitive to touch, pain, and temperature. It may not immediately be obvious why studying the barrel cortex, which maps sensation to whiskers, is relevant to humans, but it turns out the texture discrimination performed by the whiskers in rodents is quite similar to the same discrimination we do using our finger tips. Therefore, Komai considered the barrel cortex a good model to see how sound can affect the perception of touch.

"We think our senses are distinct, but there are many studies that show multisensory responses, mainly through audio-visual interactions or audio-tactile interactions," explains Komai.

Continued