Complex Tactile Feedback for Brain-Controlled Bionic Hand with Giacomo Valle, PhD

What if a bionic hand could move with your thoughts and also let you feel edges, shapes, and even motion across your skin?

In this special episode of the Neurocareers: Doing the Impossible! BCI Award Series, host Dr. Milena Korostenskaja sits down with Dr. Giacomo Valle, assistant professor at Chalmers University of Technology and 1st place winner of the 2024 BCI Award, to explore his groundbreaking research on restoring complex touch through brain-controlled bionic hands.

Giacomo takes us on a journey from his early work with peripheral nerve stimulation in amputees to today's intracortical microstimulation of the somatosensory cortex, where participants experience naturalistic sensations of edges, motion, and even shapes. Along the way, he draws fascinating parallels between visual cortical prosthetics and tactile neuroprosthetics—showing how insights in one field can spark breakthroughs in the other.

The episode also honors the legacy of his late mentor, Professor Sliman Bensmaia, whose pioneering contributions to the science of touch continue to shape the field. Giacomo shares a moving story from the first fingertip implant experiments, capturing the emotional moment when participants once again felt through artificial stimulation.

We also dive into new research overturning old beliefs about brain reorganization after amputation. Long thought to cause cortical maps to shift, new longitudinal studies reveal that body representations in the brain remain remarkably stable—even decades after limb loss. This discovery opens new doors for amputees and the future of neuroprosthetics.

🌍 Whether you are a researcher, student, or simply curious about the future of neuroscience and technology, this conversation offers a rare inside look at how science is giving people back one of the most human experiences: the sense of touch.

🎧 Tune in to discover:

• How brain implants recreate complex tactile sensations

• Why direct cortical stimulation often feels more natural than peripheral approaches

• The inspiring intersection between vision and touch neuroprosthetics

• What stable cortical maps mean for amputees and future prosthetic design

• Giacomo's career path, advice for young neurotech researchers, and his vision for the future

✨ And make sure to attend the upcoming BCI Award Ceremony 2025, where Dr. Giacomo Valle will serve as jury chair—celebrating the next wave of world-changing breakthroughs in brain-computer interfaces.

BCI Award is sponsored and supported by g.tec medical engineering, Austria.

About the Podcast Guest:

Giacomo Valle, Assistant Professor in Bionics at Chalmers University of Technology, Head of the Neural Bionics Lab (https://www.neuralbionicslab.com/).

- Lab: The overall scientific goal is to investigate how the natural human sensorimotor system is encoding relevant information for expressing flexible behavior and to create models able to unveil the underlying neural mechanisms. The overall biomedical goal is to engineer neuroprosthetic devices leveraging how understanding of the natural biological system in order to improve the medical condition of people with neurological impairments.

-The study: Targeted brain stimulation is a promising approach for restoring the sense of touch in individuals with prosthetic hands. However, current protocols fail to mimic the natural richness of information about objects. Valle et al. developed and assessed in individuals with spinal cord injury some intracortical microstimulation approaches able to deliver enriched somatosensory percepts similar to those evoked in natural touch, including the sensations of edges, convex and concave curves, and motion (see the Perspective by prof Paul Marasco). Appropriate spatiotemporal stimulation has the potential to evoke complex somatosensorial experiences.'

- Team: Cortical Bionics Research Group with the special mention to Prof. Sliman Bensmaia (who unexpectedly passed away in August 2023) for his incredible support, inspiring brainstorms, and unique passion during the study. Prof. Bensmaia rigorously investigated these features of natural touch in both humans and monkeys during his career. He inspired and pushed us to leverage what we learned from touch encoding to shape new ICMS paradigms in the context of human BCI.

- Participants: We thank the participants for their generous contribution to the advancement of science. BCI Pioneers Coalition.

About the Podcast Host:

The Neurocareers podcast is brought to you by The Institute of Neuroapproaches (https://www.neuroapproaches.org/) and its founder, Milena Korostenskaja, Ph.D. (Dr. K), a career coach for people in neuroscience and neurotechnologies. As a professional coach with a background in neurotech and Brain-Computer Interfaces, Dr. K understands the unique challenges and opportunities job applicants face in this field and can provide personalized coaching and support to help you succeed.

Here's what you'll get with one-on-one coaching sessions from Dr. K:

• Identification and pursuit of career goals
• Guidance on job search strategies, resume, and cover letter development
• Neurotech / neuroscience job interview preparation and practice
• Networking strategies to connect with professionals in the field of neuroscience and neurotechnologies
• Ongoing support and guidance to help you stay on track and achieve your goals

You can always schedule a neurocareer consultation/coaching session with Dr. K at https://neuroapproaches.as.me/free-neurocareer-consultation

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