The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Neural Coding of Stimulus Intensity: Linking the Population Response of Mechanoreceptive Afferents with Psychophysical Behavior
Open accessAbstract
How specific aspects of a stimulus are encoded at different stages of neural processing is a critical question in sensory neuroscience. In the present study, we investigated the neural code underlying the perception of stimulus intensity in the somatosensory system. We first characterized the responses of SA1 (slowly adapting type 1), RA (rapidly adapting), and PC (Pacinian) afferents of macaque monkeys to sinusoidal, diharmonic, and bandpass noise stimuli. We then had human subjects rate the perceived intensity of a subset of these stimuli. On the basis of these neurophysiological and psychophysical measurements, we evaluated a series of hypotheses about which aspect(s) of the neural activity evoked at the somatosensory periphery account for perception. We evaluated three types of neural codes. The first consisted of population codes based on the firing rate of neurons located directly under the probe. The second included population codes based on the firing rate of the entire population of active neurons. The third included codes based on the number of active afferents. We found that the response evoked in the localized population is logarithmic with stimulus amplitude (given a constant frequency composition), whereas the population response across all neurons is linear with stimulus amplitude. We conclude that stimulus intensity is best accounted for by the firing rate evoked in afferents located under or near the locus of stimulation, weighted by afferent type.
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“In the intact nerve, increases in pressure result in both an increase in the number of recruited fibers and an increase in the firing rates of those fibers already recruited (Muniak et al., 2007), which explains why changes in either the delivered charge or the stimulation frequencies result in changes in perceived pressure.”
From Biomimetic approaches to bionic touch through a peripheral nerve interface (2015) · cites this paper as Muniak et al., 2007
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Citations
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“…flutter and motion perception; and PC in the perception of microtextures (Hollins and Bensmaia, 2007) and of textures explored through a tool (Yoshioka et al., 2007) (for review, see Johnson, 2001)], all three populations of afferents respond to most natural stimuli, albeit to different degrees.”
Talbot, W. H., Darian-Smith, I., Kornhuber, H. H., & Mountcastle, V. B. (1968) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.1968.31.2.301 · Cited by 993 · cited 10×
“The frequency dependence of threshold parameter conformed with previous measurements of absolute threshold (Talbot et al., 1968; Freeman and Johnson, 1982a; Johansson et al., 1982): PC afferents yielded a characteristic U-shaped threshold-frequency relationship; the RA threshold-frequency function was also U-shaped (f…”
MethodInfluentialFour channels mediate the mechanical aspects of touch
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“However, there is little direct evidence that it contributes to vibrotaction [for a counterargument, see Bolanowski et al. (1988)].”
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“The perceived intensity of sinusoids in the low- to intermediatefrequency range has been shown to increase linearly with stimulus intensity (Stevens, 1968; Franzén, 1969; Verrillo et al., 1969) whereas the firing rates evoked in individual peripheral afferents do not (Mountcastle et al., 1969).”
Ochoa, J., & Torebjörk, E. (1983) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1983.sp014873 · Cited by 467 · cited 2×
“For instance, microstimulation of single SA2 afferents does not produce any conscious sensation, much less a vibratory percept, whereas microstimulation of the other three afferent types yields sensations ranging from pressure, to taps, to vibrations, the nature of which depends both on the frequency of the electrical…”
Johansson, R. S., Landstro¨m, U., & Lundström, R. (1982) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/0006-8993(82)90899-x · Cited by 442 · cited 1×
“The frequency dependence of threshold parameter conformed with previous measurements of absolute threshold (Talbot et al., 1968; Freeman and Johnson, 1982a; Johansson et al., 1982): PC afferents yielded a characteristic U-shaped threshold-frequency relationship; the RA threshold-frequency function was also U-shaped (f…”
Johansson, R. S. (1978) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1978.sp012411 · Cited by 430 · cited 3×
“The coarse spatial structure of SA1 and RA RFs is similar (Johansson, 1978), and the model is likely applicable to both afferent types.”
Influential
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Items 201–233 of 233
Neuroprostheses for Restoring Sensation
Tyler, D. J. (2018) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805353-9.00103-0
Page, D. M., Wendelken, S., Davis, T. S., Kluger, D. T., Hutchinson, D. T., George, J. A., & Clark, G. A. (2020) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2003.03626
“The stimulus intensity at each location can be encoded based on the frequency of stimulation [15], [21].”
BackgroundStefani, S. P., Pastras, C. J., Serrador, J. M., et al. (2021) · Journal of Neuroscience Research · doi:10.1002/jnr.24957
“The rate code of neurons encodes important information including stimulus intensity, such that firing rate increases linearly with depolarizing currents (du Lac & Lisberger, 1995; Muniak et al., 2007).”
BackgroundKim, S. S. (2015) · Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6675-8_380
Kim, S. S. (2013) · Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_380-2
“Different mechanoreceptive afferents exhibit differential sensitivity to stimulus frequency (Freeman and Johnson 1982; Muniak et al. 2007; Talbot et al. 1968).”
BackgroundGardner, E. P. (2020) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0029142
Hierarchical processing underpins competition in tactile perceptual bistabilityPreprint
Darki, F., Ferrario, A., & Rankin, J. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.08.16.504072
Kim, S. S. (2022) · Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-1006-0_380
Somatosensory Neurons: Spike-Timing
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“Additionally, future studies may combine aspects of our approach with brain, nerve, or muscle recordings to supplement behavioral results, possibly enabling usage of more detailed peripheral nerve integration models (Muniak et al 2007).”
Edhi, M. M., Zhu, C., Jeong, K.-S., Rogness, V. M., Esteller, R., & Saab, C. Y. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.03.07.531522
Mastella, M., Tiemens, T., & Chicca, E. (2024) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4224027/v1
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Aso, H., Ishizuka, H., Hiraki, T., Minagawa‐Kawai, Y., & Miki, N. (2024) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2024.3422086
“The tactile receptors, responsible for sensing a variety of surfaces, possess their own sensitivity characteristics [1], [2], [3], [4], [5].”
BackgroundProcessing the fine-grained features of tactile textures involves the primary somatosensory cortex
Esposito, G., Nozaradan, S., Kuzminova, A., Collignon, O., & Mouraux, A. (2024) · Imaging Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/imag_a_00341
“…differential activation of mechanoreceptors having small receptive fields, and a temporal code mediated by differences in the temporal dynamics of activity generated within rapidly adaptive mechanoreceptors (Connor & Johnson, 1992; Connor et al., 1990; Hollins & Risner, 2000; Muniak et al., 2007).”
BackgroundTactile Displays using MEMS and Material Technology
Ishizuka, H. (2024) · Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan · doi:10.7210/jrsj.42.872
Zhu, C., Jeong, K.-S., Edhi, M. M., Rogness, V. M., Saab, C. Y., & Esteller, R. (2025) · Frontiers in Pain Research · doi:10.3389/fpain.2025.1541078
Mice and humans evaluate odor stimulus strength using common psychophysical principlesPreprint
Barra, B., Pellegrino, R., Zhao, J., Danilo, C., Streleckis, A., Reizis, T., Rinberg, D. A., & Mainland, J. D. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.08.16.669760
Behavior-Relevant Periodized Neural Representation of Acoustic But Not Tactile Rhythm in Humans
Lenoir, C., Lenc, T., Polak, R., & Nozaradan, S. (2025) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0664-25.2025 · Cited by 2
Waveform-dependent mechanical signatures shape human vibrotactile perceptionPreprint
Bonnet, S., Watkins, R. H., Ericsson, R., Daumas, H., & Ackerley, R. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.11.10.687548
“[22], [26] When a vibratory stimulus contacts the skin, its mechanical energy spreads through surface waves, recruiting mechanoreceptors beyond the initial locus of stimulation.”
InfluentialSomatosensory Neurons: Spike Timing
Saal, H. P. (2013) · Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_387-2
Perception de la texture en bouche : une approche biomimétique
Thomazo, J.-B. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/cf909dffz4892z4f9dz9787z30a7a7b0ab50
Wearable sound : integrative design for hearing and feeling vibrations
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From Cue to Construct : Cues, Mechanisms, and Stability in Haptic Perception
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“The magnitude of tactile stimulation can be modulated through various parameters—amplitude, pulse width, and frequency of stimulation—to elicit changes in perceived intensity [1], [4], [5], [6].”
Illusory cold desensitizes touch
Ramírez, J. C., Vergara, J., Kim, B., Saal, H. P., & Yau, J. M. (2026) · Current Biology · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6874767
Intensity-dependent topographical expansion of sensory representationsPreprint
Zhang, L., Dehghani, A., Hu, L., Sadil, P. S., Losin, L., Lindquist, M. A., & Wager, T. D. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.06.05.730458
Miura, T., Yabu, K.-I., Katagiri, A., Matsuo, M., Okochi, N., Yasu, K., Sakajiri, M., & Ifukube, T. (2026) · Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks · doi:10.3390/jsan15040069
“This compressive rate–intensity behavior is characteristic of the PC population [110], and it means that a redesign lowering the unloaded resonance would buy less perceptual dynamic range than a purely mechanical argument would predict, while incurring the robustness costs already noted.”
Bioengineered Interfaces for Peripheral Nerve Sensory Restoration
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Metadata
- Authors
- Muniak, M. A., Ray, S., Hsiao, S. S., Dammann, J. F., & Bensmaia, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2007-10-24
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 43
- Pages
- 11687-11699
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC6673240
- OpenAlex
- W1989489753
- Cited by
- 235
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 2.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (NS-38034)
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC000095, DC-00023, DC-00095, T32DC000023)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS 38034, NS-18787, R01NS018787, P01NS038034)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Ion Channels and Receptors
- Keywords
- neural coding, somatosensory system, rapidly adapting afferents, Pacinian corpuscles, population coding, firing rate, psychophysics, macaque, sinusoidal stimuli, bandpass noise
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Adult, Animals, Differential Threshold, Female, Humans, Macaca mulatta, Male, Mechanoreceptors, Neurons, Afferent, Physical Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Touch, Vibration
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