TITRE DE THÈSE : THE EFFECTS OF INTRACORTICAL MICROSTIMULATION PARAMETERS ON NEURAL RESPONSES

PRÉSENTÉE PAR :     Meghan Chesea WATSON

JURY

Président :     Pierre Savard, Ph.D.
Directeur :     Mohamad Sawan, Ph.D.
Codirecteur    Numa Dancause, Ph.D.
Membre :       Pierre-A. Mathieu, D.Sc.A.
Examinateur externe :  C. Andrew Chapman, Ph.D. (Concordia University)
Représentant du directeur des É.S. : Richard Gourdeau, Ph.D.

Entrée libre

Bienvenue à tous!

SUMMARY

This project systematically explores the effects that each parameter of a microstimulation signal has on the neural activation it evokes and identifies interactions between  stimulus parameters. A series of electrophysiology experiments were conducted in anaesthetized rats to determine the influence each stimulus parameter exerts on the amplitude, latency, duration and spread of neural responses.  The influence of each parameter on the reliability of a stimulus was also explored. The study concludes with a model of parameter effects and interactions to provide a methodology for designing stimulation signals enabling the optimization of existing paradigms and facilitating the development of new applications.