What is somatosensory & motor research?

Somatosensory and motor research are two distinct areas of neuroscience that examine how the brain and nervous system interact with the body to generate movements and perceive sensations.

Somatosensory research focuses on the sensory system that allows us to perceive stimuli from our environment, particularly those related to touch, proprioception (our sense of body position and movement), and pain. Researchers in this field use a variety of methods to understand how the brain processes and represents these sensory inputs, including psychophysics (quantitative measurement of sensory perception), neuroimaging (brain imaging techniques such as fMRI or EEG), and electrophysiological recordings of neural activity.

Motor research, on the other hand, investigates the neural mechanisms that drive movement, including both voluntary and involuntary actions. This field encompasses a wide range of research areas, from basic physiology and anatomy of the motor system to higher-level cognitive processes such as motor planning and decision making. Researchers in this field use a variety of techniques to study the motor system, including electrophysiological recordings of individual muscle fibers or neuronal activity, neuroimaging techniques, and behavioral studies.

Recent advances in these areas have led to a greater understanding of how sensory information is processed and integrated with motor control, and how motor commands are generated and executed. Such research can have implications for a wide range of fields, including engineering, psychology, and medicine, with applications in areas such as prosthetics, sports performance, and rehabilitation.