Context : Most of our daily interactions with the environment are based on tactile exploration. Tactile perception relies on the stimulation of mechanoreceptors in the skin and on the processing of the response induced by the brain. So far, only few studies have been devoted to uncover the overall "perception chain", i.e. from mechanical stimuli, via signal conversion and transmission, to higher order neural processes related to the interaction of the human body with the touched surface. Surprisingly, most research in the field of sensorimotor control has ignored the mechanical characteristics of the surface in contact with the body. At the same time, most studies in the fields of surface engineering and mechanics have ignored the brain mechanisms involved in the processing of tactile inputs. This is a serious limitation in understanding the sense of touch.

Description  : This Phd work is part of the ANR COMTACT project bringing together 6 laboratories and whose objective is to "decipher" how the brain constructs tactile perception according to mechanical stimuli and responses of skin mechanoreceptors. The PhD works, bilocalised Femto-ST / LaMCoS (INSA-Lyon), concerns the identification of mechanical descriptors relevant for the tactile perception of micro-textured surfaces, and will begin in September 2021.

All the information you need to apply is specified in the attachments.