Scientific Reports: How animals perceive texture through their beards

How we perceive surface textures has always been a mystery

Mathematicians from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and neuroscientists from the University of Tubingen in Germany have collaborated to study how the movement of the beard on the surface of an object converts texture information into neural signals that the brain can perceive

The researchers performed high-precision laboratory tests on rat beards, and then combined them with computational models for analysis

Professor Alan Champneys from the University of Bristol said: "Through the combination of experiment and theory, we were surprised to find that the signal received by the neurons at the root of the beard is amplified thousands of times compared to the tiny force signal sensed by the tip of the beard

The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that the gradual thinning of the beard amplifies small high-frequency movements into perceptible pulse-like changes

"The shape of the beard is to transmit the signals caused by these frictions in the form of'AC' waves, thereby transmitting information about the distance and hardness of the surface," Professor Champneys said

These results also have an impact on the research of human touch

Professor Cornelius Schwarz from the University of Tübingen said: "This research opens up multiple avenues for future work

Professor Champneys believes that this research is particularly meaningful for tactile perception in the field of robotics.

"This kind of transnational and interdisciplinary cooperation between experimenters and mathematical modelers is exciting

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Oladazimi, M.