Research Interests

The Moore laboratory is investigating the neural mechanisms of touch perception, and how rapid changes in neural organization (‘dynamics’) relate to rapid changes in perceptual function. To make the link between perception and neural activity, the lab takes a multi-level approach. In humans, where detailed perceptual studies can be more readily conducted, they employ techniques such as event-related fMRI during psychophysical performance, to identify cortical areas relevant to tactile perception. In animal model systems, where detailed neural activity can be more readily investigated, they employ imaging (fMRI and optical imaging) and electrophysiology to examine organization at the level of the cortical column and neuron. The lab is applying these techniques to related questions in three domains. A central theme of these projects is the study of frequency-dependent neural and perceptual somatosensory phenomena:

Transformation of Sensory Information by Vibrissae
The Moore lab has recently discovered that rat vibrissae are ‘tuned,’ so that they resonate when stimulated at specific frequencies. As a result, a spatial, somatotopic map of frequency-sensitivity is organized in the array of vibrissae across the rat face. This finding provides a novel mechanism for the transduction of tactile information and suggests that vibrotactile processing in the rodent parallels auditory processing (e.g., the spatial map of frequency coding established by resonance in the cochlea). The lab is currently studying the consequences of vibrissa resonance on neural encoding in the periphery and cortex.

Frequency-Specific Neural Dynamics
A central and often defining characteristic of tactile percepts are the frequencies of stimulation that generate them. TAM is evoked by specific vibration frequencies, and rodents and primates often sample tactile information (e.g., by sweeping their fingers or whiskers over a surface) in a consistent and narrow frequency range. Studies in the Moore lab have shown that stimulation in these frequency ranges transforms receptive field structure and columnar organization in monkey and rat primary somatosensory cortex (SI), and influences the recruitment of distinct higher cortical areas in the human. These findings suggest that frequency-specific neural dynamics are central to tactile information processing (e.g., of tactile motion).

Tactile Motion Processing
Moving stimuli are among the most salient inputs in touch and vision, and most tactile signal processing occurs in the context of motion across the skin (or the vibrissae/whiskers on a rodent face). As one approach to understanding the context-dependent neural integration that supports tactile motion perception, the lab is studying non-moving stimuli (e.g., patterns of vibration at different points on the skin) that evoke tactile apparent motion (TAM) percepts.

An important longer-term goal of this work is to use a targeted multi-level approach to discover specific patterns of maladaptive somatosensory neural activity (e.g., aberrant dynamics in the regulation of receptive field tuning) that may contribute to human deficits in perceptual and cognitive function resulting from brain injury, illness and heritable or developmental disorders.

Selected Publications:

Moore, C. I., Nelson, S. B. & Sur, M. (1999). Dynamics of neuronal integration in rat somatosensory cortex TINS 22: 513-520.

Moore, C. I., Stern, C. E., Dunbar, C., Kostyk, S. Gehi, A., & Corkin, S. (2000). Referred Phantom Sensations and Cortical Reorganization After Spinal Cord Injury in Humans. PNAS USA 97:14703-14708.

Moore, C. I., Stern, C., Corkin, S., Fischl, B., Gray, A., Rosen, B. & Dale, A. M. (2000). Segregation of somatosensory activation in the human hand area using fMRI. J Neurophysiol 84: 558-569.

Cramer, S. C., Moore, C. I., Finklestein S. P. & Rosen, B. R. (2000). A Pilot Study of Somatotopic Mapping After Cortical Infarct. Stroke 31: 668-671.

Garabedian, C.G., Jones, S.R., Merzenich, M.M., Dale, A., and Moore, C.I. (2003). Band pass response properties of rat SI neurons. J. Neurophys. in press.