Vickery & Birznieks Group: Sensory Bionics and Motor Control

Dr Ingvars Birznieks is a sensory neurophysiologist interested in sensory information encoding mechanisms. His research primarily comprises range of studies related to the function of tactile receptors and sensorimotor control of the human hand. However, his ultimate goal is to use this fundamental knowledge and develop two branches of collaborative networks - one with clinicians, which would be aimed to develop new methods for evaluation of sensorimotor function in different groups of patients, while the second branch would be aimed to work with biomedical engineers to create artificial sensors and control algorithms for prosthesis and robotic manipulators resembling functionality of the human hand.

I am a researcher and educator focussed on understanding the internal language of the brain: its neural code, to enable us to improve brain-machine interfaces such as a bionic hand.

My broad aim is to understand the neural mechanisms that give rise to sensory perception. I work on tactile perception and cortical coding in the somatosensory system, and on tactile prostheses to restore touch to amputees. I use electrophysiological recordings to collect real-time neural data, and integrate this with behavioural and psychophysical studies to break the neural code.