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The Journal of Neuroscience, July 23, 2003, 23(16):6499-6509

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Vibrissa Resonance as a Transduction Mechanism for Tactile Encoding

Maria A. Neimark,1 * Mark L. Andermann,1,2 * John J. Hopfield,3 and Christopher I. Moore4

1Program in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, 2Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, 3Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, and 4McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

We present evidence that resonance properties of rat vibrissae differentially amplify high-frequency and complex tactile signals. Consistent with a model of vibrissa mechanics, optical measurements of vibrissae revealed that their first mechanical resonance frequencies systematically varied from low (60-100 Hz) in longer, posterior vibrissae to high (~750 Hz) in shorter, anterior vibrissae. Resonance amplification of tactile input was observed in vivo and ex vivo, and in a variety of boundary conditions that are likely to occur during perception, including stimulation of the vibrissa with moving complex natural stimuli such as sandpaper. Vibrissae were underdamped, allowing for sharp tuning to resonance frequencies. Vibrissa resonance constitutes a potentially useful mechanism for perception of high-frequency and complex tactile signals. Amplification of small amplitude signals by resonance could facilitate detection of stimuli that would otherwise fail to drive neural activity. The systematic map of frequency sensitivity across the face could facilitate texture discrimination through somatotopic encoding of frequency content. These findings suggest strong parallels between vibrissa tactile processing and auditory encoding, in which the cochlea also uses resonance to amplify low-amplitude signals and to generate a spatial map of frequency sensitivity.

Key words: vibrissa; whisker; somatosensory; resonance; rat; frequency

Received Mar 14, 2003; revised May 12, 2003; accepted May 13, 2003.




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