Thesis Project Form

The project falls within the domain of neuroengineering, neuroprosthetics, and sensory restoration. Restoring natural somatosensory feedback is essential for improving control and embodiment in neuroprosthetic devices. Understanding how the somatosensory and motor cortices encode different modalities of tactile input (mechanical vs. electro-cutaneous stimulation) is critical for advancing translational brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and bi-directional neuroprostheses.

The main objective is to analyze and compare neural responses elicited by mechanical and electro-cutaneous stimulation of the skin using intracortical interface recordings in humans. Key activities:
- Analysis of neural data recorded from human somatosensory and motor cortices during diverse stimulation protocols.
- Comparative evaluation between electrical and mechanical skin stimulation.
- Investigation of the relationship between neural population activity and conscious tactile perception.

Acquire advanced technical and analytical skills in the signal processing of multi-channel neural electrophysiological data. The student will develop a deep understanding of bi-directional neuroprosthetic architectures and the coding principles underlying somatosensory processing. Additionally, the student will gain practical experience in experimental statistics and computational data analysis workflows for high-dimensional neural datasets. At the end, the project aims to develop research capabilities in a translational neuroengineerig environment, bringing basic neuroscience and neuroprosthetic application.