Body
Although poorly understood and scarcely even appreciated as a real sense, "proprioception", the innate sense of limb positon and movement, is a critical component of our ability to make normal movements. In parallel with our studies of the basic properties of the motor system, we study proprioception using microelectrodes implanted in two different areas of the primary somatosensory cortex, and even in the cuneate nucleus at the very base of the brainstem. Through these recordings and associated modeling studies, we are working to understand how signals from the muscles' length and force sensors are combined and transformed into information about hand position. For more information click here: http://labs.feinberg.northwestern.edu/lee-miller/research/projects/sensory_rep/