Plasticity is the ability of the brain to adapt to new experiences and boundary conditions over the entire lifespan. When we learn something, we acquire knowledge and skills through instruction, practice and experience. This learning requires permanent changes in the brain. The ability of the brain to change through learning is called neuroplasticity.
The age structure of modern industrial societies is characterized by an enormous increase of the elderly. Thus, the understanding of the aging process is increasingly of great importance. The aim is to create foundations for healthy aging, which makes it possible to live independently as long as possible.
The sense of touch - The underrated sense. How important is the sense of touch in a predominantly visually dominated world? What distinguishes the sense of touch from other senses? We investigate the properties and characteristics of tactile perception in the context of neural processing and "haptic design".
As part of a collaboration between neuroscientists of the “Institute for Neuroinformatics” and neurologists of the hospital “Bergmannsheil”, both in Bochum, a method for performance improvement of the human sense of touch has been developed in recent years: The sensitive stimulation.
Retirement: Working several years beyond my initial retirement, I am slowly phasing out my research activity, but continue to publish.
Selective electrical stimulation protocols can stimulate learning processes associated with improved tactile performance. To ease up the sensory stimulation to the subject, specific stimulation gloves were developed. These allow specific stimulation of all five fingers of one hand. This study will investigate whether the known influence of stimulation protocols can be observed on the tactile performance of the finger by stimulation gloves.
