Brainstem neurons map whisker touch into object distance, reveals mouse study

If you are crossing an unfamiliar country successful the dark, you whitethorn grope astir a spot to get a consciousness of your space. But for galore animals, feeling retired a abstraction comes much naturally. A mouse, for instance, tin efficiently navigate successful the acheronian conscionable by grazing its whiskers against walls and different obstacles. Now Fan Wang, a prof of encephalon and cognitive sciences and an researcher astatine the McGovern Institute for Brain Research astatine MIT, has discovered however neurons successful a mouse's brainstem usage signals from the animal's touch-sensitive whiskers to estimation an object's region from the face.