Research

Tactile function & neurodevelopmental disorders

The only sense that can directly and actively interact with the world around us is the sense of touch. Every part of our skin is covered in touch-receptors, that can detect tiny vibrations or indentations, although some parts are more sensitive than others. Information entering our skin is processed through our nerves, via the spinal cord, brain-stem and thalamus, and finally to our brain, and in particular, the somatosensory cortex. As touch is the only sense that allows us to actively interact with the world around us, it is particularly important early in life, to explore the 3D world around us, but also to engage with other people and form physical relationships and connections.

Studies have shown that children with Autism, as well as those with Tourette syndrome and ADHD, often show sensory impairments. This could show itself in for instance hyper- or hyporesponsiveness to touch, or a difficulty habituating to repetitive or long touch stimulation. However, the neuronal underpinnings of these disorders are not well understood, and the tactile abnormalities have predominantly been studied using questionnaires and rating scales that also contain strong emotional responses to touch. My interest lies in what brain mechanisms might explain these tactile impairments in children.

Using a battery of tactile tasks, based on invasive studies, we allow for the objective and controlled study of differences in tactile function (detection, discrimination) in pediatric cohorts.

GABA & neurodevelopmental disorders

GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and it is crucial in regulating neuronal activity and for instance, shaping the neuronal response to tactile stimulation. Using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS; an MRI-technique), it is possible to measure GABA concentration in the living brain non-invasively.

Several studies have shown that GABA may be impaired in Autism (including evidence from animal models and genetic studies). A GABAergic deficit has been theorized for Tourette Syndrome and ADHD as well.

My research focus

Several neurodevelopmental disorders show tactile impairments. GABA plays an important role in encoding tactile information, and these neurodevelopmental disorders are also thought to have GABAergic impairments. I study whether differences in brain levels of GABA are related to differences in the perception of touch. There are several reasons for studying this:

(1) This knowledge will provide us with information as to how bulk neurotransmitter concentration is related to different aspects of behavior;

(2) We will learn how GABA is related to different neuronal processes and finally;

(3) By combining these methods, we might be able to have a better understanding of the role GABA plays in the tactile impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders, and through this understanding, potentially lead to therapeutic ways we can modulate GABA.

My main focus is studying the role of GABA in neuronal processes underlying touch (tactile) processing in these children, by measuring GABA non-invasively using MRS and measuring different aspects of tactile sensitivity.

Further detail

For further detail, as well as brief descriptions of my main studies, I have some additional pages. I am continually updating these, see below whether these are finishing or in progress.

• [BACKGROUND] A lot of the preliminary work was done during my PhD. The title of my PhD thesis was "The in vivo functional neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of vibrotactile processing" and can be downloaded in full here.

• [GABA MRS] Click HERE for a brief and simplified explanation on how we can measure GABA using MRS

• [Measuring touch] Click HERE for a brief and simplified explanation on how we can measure touch using psychophysics

• [Touch and GABA] Click HERE for a brief explanation on touch processing and the role GABA plays in thi

• [Linking GABA and touch in vivo] This works in progress page provides an introduction to our recent findings HERE.

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