Sliman Bensmaia, Ph.D.

Dr. Bensmaia's research program seeks to understand the neural basis of somatosensation – touch and proprioception – during manual interactions with objects. While technological obstacles have hindered comprehensive study of these processes in the past, Dr. Bensmaia's team has developed an engineering apparatus that allows the measurement of contact events, enabling thorough study of the neural basis of somatosensation under ecologically valid conditions. Through this neural engineering approach, his overarching goal is to leverage knowledge gained about sensory processing to inform therapeutic approaches that could restore the sense of touch to patients who have lost it, focusing on amputees and people with tetraplegia.