Adaptation aftereffects reveal that tactile distance is a basic somatosensory feature

The stage at which processing of tactile distance occurs is still debated. We addressed this issue by implementing an adaptation-aftereffect paradigm with passive touch. We demonstrated the presence of a strong aftereffect, induced by the simultaneous presentation of pairs of tactile stimuli. After...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 114; no. 17; pp. 4555 - 4560
Main Authors Calzolari, Elena, Azañón, Elena, Danvers, Matthew, Vallar, Giuseppe, Longo, Matthew R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 25.04.2017
Subjects
Adaptation
Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Adult
Biological Sciences
Distance Perception
Female
Hand
Humans
Male
Orientation
Physical Stimulation
Sensory perception
Skin
Social Sciences
Tactile stimuli
Touch
Touch - physiology
Touch Perception - physiology
Visual perception
tactile distance
adaptation
touch
aftereffects
somatosensory processing
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Summary:The stage at which processing of tactile distance occurs is still debated. We addressed this issue by implementing an adaptation-aftereffect paradigm with passive touch. We demonstrated the presence of a strong aftereffect, induced by the simultaneous presentation of pairs of tactile stimuli. After adaptation to two different distances, one on each hand, participants systematically perceived a subsequent stimulus delivered to the hand adapted to the smaller distance as being larger. We further investigated the nature of the aftereffects, demonstrating that they are orientation- and skin-region–specific, occur even when just one hand is adapted, do not transfer either contralaterally or across the palm and dorsum, and are defined in a skin-centered, rather than an external, reference frame. These characteristics of tactile distance aftereffects are similar to those of low-level visual aftereffects, supporting the idea that distance perception arises at early stages of tactile processing.
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Author contributions: E.C., E.A., and M.R.L. designed research; E.C., E.A., and M.D. performed research; E.C., E.A., and M.R.L. analyzed data; and E.C., E.A., G.V., and M.R.L. wrote the paper.
1E.C. and E.A. contributed equally to this work.
Edited by Mark Hollins, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, and accepted by Editorial Board Member Randolph Blake March 20, 2017 (received for review September 7, 2016)
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1614979114