Use of sensory substitution devices as a model system for investigating cross-modal neuroplasticity in humans

Blindness provides an unparalleled opportunity to study plasticity of the nervous system in humans.Seminal work in this area examined the often dramatic modifications to the visual cortex that result when visual input is completely absent from birth or very early in life（Kupers and Ptito,2014）.More recent studies explored what happens to the visual pathways in the context of acquired blindness.This is particularly relevant as the majority of diseases that cause vision loss occur in the elderly.

When Sensory Substitution Devices Strike Back： An Interactive Training Paradigm

A sensory substitution device （SSD） is a technology that translates information for one sensory modality, like vision, into information for use by another, like touch. Though SSDs have been in existence for over four decades, effective training techniques for their use are rarely discussed. In this paper, we compare three training strategies on a particular SSD known as the vOICe. These comparisons were conducted using a minimal but active search and localization task of luminescent discs. These studies show that an interactive training paradigm, which combines the efforts of two trainees at the same time in a tag-like game, is more effective than passive training at a computer console or active training involving search and localization of luminescent discs. This finding supports philosophical views of perception that take interaction with the environment seriously. In particular, we argue that these findings are in support of certain features of the extended mind view as proposed by Andy Clark （2008）. In particular, the study suggests that when environmental conditions are responsive to one＇s behavioral activity, the activity itself is enhanced, as is predicted by the extended mind view.

Review on Tactile Sensory Feedback of Prosthetic Hands for the Upper-Limb Amputees by Sensory Afferent Stimulation

Loss of sensory function for upper-limb amputees inevitably devastates their life qualities, and lack of reliable sensory feedback is the biggest defect to sophisticated prosthetic hands, greatly hindering their usefulness and perceptual embodiment. Thus, it is extremely necessary to accomplish an intelligent prosthetic hand with effective tactile sensory feedback for an upper-limb amputee. This paper presents an overview of three kinds of existing sensory feedback approaches, including cutaneous mechanical stimulation(CMS), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) and direct peripheral nerve electrical stimulation(DPNES). The emphasis concentrates on major scientific achievements, advantages and disadvantages. The TENS on the skin areas with evoked finger sensation(EFS) at upper-limb amputees' residual limbs might be one of the most promising approaches to realize natural sensory feedback.

Conceptual Method of Temperature Sensation in Bionic Hand by Extraordinary Perceptual Phenomenon

Lack of temperature sensation of myoelectric prosthetic hand limits the daily activities of amputees.To this end,a noninvasive temperature sensation method is proposed to train amputees to sense temperature with psychophysical sensory substitution.In this study,22 healthy participants took part besides 5 amputee participants.The duration time of the study was 31 days with five test steps according to the Leitner technique.An adjustable temperature mug and a Peltier were used to change the temperature of the water/phantom digits to induce temperature to participants.Also,to isolate the surroundings and show colors,a Virtual Reality(VR)glass was employed.The statistical results conducted are based on the response of participants with questionnaire method.Using Chi-square tests,it is concluded that participants answer the experiment significantly correctly using the Leitner technique(P value<0.05).Also,by applying the“Repeated Measures ANOVA”,it is noticed that the time of numbness felt by participants had significant(P value<0.001)difference.Participants could remember lowest and highest temperatures significantly better than other temperatures(P value<0.001);furthermore,the well-trained amputee participant practically using the prosthesis with 72.58%could identify object’s temperature with only once time experimenting the color temperature.