Principal Investigator: dr hab. Michał Wierzchoń, prof. UJ

Research project objectives/ Research hypothesisThe aim of the proposed research project is to identify the cognitive and neural mechanisms engaged in the formation of the subjective experience of sensory substitution (SS). We propose to focus on three main research problems:1) subjective experience of SS characteristics (we plan to investigate how participants experience visual information through SS devices);2) neuronal consequences of SS (we plan to test the functional reorganisation of the brain engaged in SS with magnetic resonance);3) comparison between three SS devices (we plan to analyse the behaviour of SS device users in a complex environment that will allow us to optimise SS device settings and propose an optimal set of substituting device settings that may be applied in future studies with blind participants).Research project methodologyThe proposed project will investigate how the substituted information provided by three SS devices (BrainPort, Enactive Torch, Colorophone) is experienced and how it can be integrated. In the first phase of the project we will develop behavioural procedures (such as shape or colour identification tasks). In the second phase of the project we plan to apply these tasks ina single research group over a series of meetings. Each person will take part in approximately one two-hour study every two weeks throughout the year. The participants will be tested individually. This part of the project will be preceded by an MRI scan (RS fMRI, DTI, T1). A second MRI scan will be carried out after a year of a systematic training. This protocol will allow us to investigate how prolonged exposure to SS influences the plasticity and the functional organisation of the brain. Throughout the second phase of the project, participants will perform a variety of SS device-based tasks. In addition, we will manipulate the parameters of SS device coupling system algorithms that transform the substituted signal into the substituting one. This second group of manipulations will help us to propose an optimalset of substituting devices that enables us to present participants with the greatest number of important characteristics of substituted information (e.g. distance, shape or colour) in a way that can be easily processed by users.Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and societyThe project realisation will affect the development of the SS research domain as we propose a systematic empirical study that investigates aspects of SS that were either discussed only on a theoretical level (e.g. phenomenology of SS, SS and interaction with the environment) or were not discussed at all (e.g. integration of the signals delivered by more than one of the SS device). We aim to propose a research paradigm that will allow us to test theories investigating the cognitive and neuronal underpinnings of the formation of conscious perceptual experience. In the longer term, the project may also influence studies on SS in the blind population and influence the everyday life of blind people. This is because the integration of the information provided by three SS devices will help develop an SS system that integrates the advantages of individual SS devices.