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The recognition performance for segmental stimuli was compared when presented through a single-channel tactile device and through a 24-channel vocoder. Both consonant and vowel stimuli were tested under visual only, tactile only, and visual/tactile conditions. Results indicated no significant performance differences for the 12 artificially deafened listeners. (Author/JDD)

Performance of congenitally blind children and blindfolded children was compared on tasks requiring spatial reasoning and shape recognition. Blind subjects performed at least as well as blindfolded subjects on simple two-dimensional tactual processing tasks, but less well on more complex tasks requiring them to store, compare, and label objects. (Author/JDD)

An educational program was designed to introduce spatial concepts to 30 congenitally/early-blinded children, aged 8-14, using a modified Optacon of Telesensory Systems, Incorporated. Using the vibrotactile stimulation device, the children learned to identify various objects correctly and to describe their relative spatial arrangements. (Author/JDD)

Reviewed is the historical development of tactile aids to supplement speechreading by hearing-impaired individuals, from early use of bone conduction vibrators driven by hearing aids, to multichannel tactile aids representing the full speech spectrum and tactile speechreading aids complementing visual cues. Adequate training in use of tactile displays is emphasized. (JDD)

This research review on tactual communication of speech discusses methods of communication intended for the tactual sense alone, issues related to tactual input as a supplement for speechreading, and issues related to developing new synthetic tactual aids and the roles such aids could play in treating people with profound hearing loss. (Author/JDD)

The hypothesis that tactile presentation of voice fundamental frequency is as effective as auditory presentation in aiding speechreading was proven through auditory stimulation experiments, psychophysical studies, phonetic-level tactile studies, and sentence-level studies. After training with the device, three postlingually deafened adults experienced a reduction of speechreading error of 25 percent-50 percent. (Author/JDD)

Speech production gains made by hearing-impaired children (aged 3-7) in a training program incorporating tactual vocoders were compared with gains made by 15 comparison children. The 11 subjects showed gains in syllable inventories and pronunciation of vocabulary items; in another study, 7 subjects exhibited gains in grammatical development. (Author/JDD)

Experiments using portable tactile aids in speech perception are reviewed, focusing on training studies, additive benefit studies, and device comparison studies (including the "Tactaid II,""Tactaid V,""Tacticon 1600," and "Tickle Talker"). The potential of tactual information in perception of the overall speech code by hearing-impaired individuals is discussed. (JDD)

Laboratory results are presented which suggest that hearing-impaired individuals' speech perception can be enhanced through use of tactile aids with a number of tactile transducers conveying information about the spectral content of the speech signal, and speech production can be improved through experience using a multichannel tactile aid. (Author/JDD)

Fifty hearing-impaired students, aged 8-12 and 15-19, who used an auditory, visual, or tactile aid in speech training made more progress than controls who received speech training without sensory aids. A visual display was more effective for conveying appropriate average pitch, while the "Portapitch" was useful for conveying dynamic pitch changes. (Author/JDD)

A history of speech training technology is presented, from the simple hand-held mirror to complicated computer-based systems and tactile devices, and subsequent papers in this theme issue are introduced. Both the advantages and problems of technological aids are addressed. Simplicity in the application and use of speech training aids is stressed. (Author/JDD)

Ten preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit were provided with tactile-kinesthetic stimulation. Following treatment, the infants' weight gains and performance on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale significantly increased, compared to 10 control-group infants, also preterm. The groups showed no differences on length of hospital stay. (Author/JDD)

Sixteen severely-to-profoundly hearing-impaired students, aged 7-8, received training using a curriculum for remediating monotone voice. Some students also used visual or tactile sensory aids. All students evidenced marked improvement in remediating monotonous pitch, with those using the curriculum in conjunction with a tactile display showing the most progress. (Author/JDD)

Tactile cues were provided to a 19-year-old deaf, blind, and mentally retarded individual to guide her performance on packaging tasks. The tactile prompts effectively guided her on the training task and were also generalized to novel tasks and cues. Continued use of the cues was necessary to maintain performance. (Author/JDD)

Recent developments are described in transmission of speech information to the skin of hearing-impaired individuals through artificial hearing devices. Discussed are tactual hearing instrument characteristics; transmission of speech sounds by tactual vocoders; vocabulary acquisition, sentence recognition, and discourse tracking through tactual vocoders; and potential users of tactual aids. (JDD)

Explores the relations between parent gazing and touching and infant gazing on the part of boys, girls, mothers, and fathers. Patterns of early parent-infant social play behaviors appear to differ with both infant and parent gender. (Author/BB)

Small-set segmental identification experiments were conducted with three deaf-blind subjects who were highly experienced users of the Tadoma method. Systematic variations in the positioning of the hand on the speaker's face for Tadoma produced systematic effects on percent-correct scores, information transfer, and perception of individual features. (JDD)

This article discusses issues and difficulties encountered in efforts at the University of Birmingham (England) to standardize a new psychometric assessment tool, a tactile speed-of-information-processing test for children with blindness. The problem of defining the population on which the test is standardized is seen as particularly difficult. (Author/DB)

This article describes basic applications of an adaptive telephone device for deaf-blind persons with speaking voices. The deaf-blind caller poses questions requiring one-word answers, and the device vibrates in response to touch-tone pulses from the other party. Specific suggestions for such uses as making appointments and emergency calls are discussed. (PB)

Natural history facts and concepts were presented to 160 multiaged individuals through tactual and/or visual interpretive stations along a nature trail. Individuals were tested to indicate knowledge retention after the trail experience. Visual, tactual, and visual/tactual approaches proved to be equally effective treatments in most cases. (Author/JDD)

The article describes a tactile book program sponsored by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind in which every primary and secondary school in Victoria (Australia) state produced books with tactual elements. (DB)

Outlines three basic learning modalities--auditory, visual, and tactile--and notes that technology can help incorporate multiple modalities within each lesson, to meet the needs of most students. Discusses the importance in multiple modality teaching of effectively assessing students. Presents visual, auditory and tactile activity suggestions. (AEF)

The article asserts that books on tape with sound illustrations (accurate narrative descriptions of graphics and photos) and tactile books stimulate visually impaired and blind children to better understand the physical world. (Author/DB)

Objectives: Tactile acuity is a somatosensory measure of the extent to which humans can discern tactile stimuli. It is influenced by how peripheral signals are processed centrally. In the oral cavity, Occlusal Tactile Acuity (OTA) is the ability to perceive minimal thicknesses between antagonist teeth. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between psychological traits and OTA of otherwise healthy individuals. Methods: Sixty‐three volunteers (32 males; mean age ± SD: 24.6 ± 2.7 years) participated in this study. Somatosensory amplification, anxiety, depression, physical symptoms and pain catastrophizing were scored using questionnaires, and subgroups of severity were created per variable based on cut‐offs. OTA was measured using 9 aluminium foils with thickness (ranging from 8 to 72 μm) and one sham test (without foil). Each thickness was tested 10 times in random order, the participants were instructed to report whether they felt the foil between their molars and the mean percentage of correct answers was computed. A linear mixed model was used with OTA as a dependent variable and psychological domain as an independent variable. Results: Significantly different OTA was observed among the anxiety subgroups (p =.003), supporting a decreased perception of thicknesses 24 and 32 μm (p =.018 and p <.001, respectively) in participants with moderate/severe anxiety compared to those with no/mild anxiety. Significantly different OTA was also observed among the pain catastrophizing subgroups (p =.008), showing decreased perception of thicknesses 32 and 40 μm (p <.001 and p =.007, respectively) in severe catastrophizing levels, compared to no/mild catastrophizing levels. No significant differences were observed for the other variables. Conclusions: Healthy adults with increased anxiety or pain catastrophizing levels show decreased interdental acuity as compared to participants with minor or no psychological impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a system that immediately informs a driver that he/she is pressing the accelerator pedal by means of a tactile vibration of the pedal. An experiment has been conducted with a driving simulator to investigate whether the pedal vibration system is effective in preventing pedal misapplication accidents and whether it is accepted to drivers. We induced pedal misapplications on a driving simulator and observed reactions of experiment participants. As a result, it was found that the pedal vibration system allowed drivers to notice pedal misapplication more quickly and to correct their foot position more rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human postural control function is determined by inputs from three senses, namely, vision, balance, and somatosensation. Many studies have attempted to induce body movements in arbitrary directions using external stimuli to maintain and improve postural control functions. Previous studies demonstrated that sensory information from the plantar region of the foot is involved in the understanding of front–back position and regulation of body movements. In the present study, we investigated a method to induce postural control and walking movements in an arbitrary direction by presenting matrix-shaped tactile stimuli (MSTS) to the plantar region of the foot. We developed a tactile stimulation device to investigate body sway when the MSTS was presented to the dorsal surface region of a foot in a standing posture. This device is envisioned to be used as a wearable guidance tool in the future. In addition, the measurement experiment used a high-speed camera and an accelerometer placed on the top of the subject's head to track the subject's movements in response to the MSTS presented by the device. In this paper, the relationship between the control parameters (L, T) of tactile stimulation MSTS and body sway and its direction was considered. The results showed that the introduction of MSTS on the sole of the foot could induce body sway. The results also suggest that it is possible to induce body sway in the respective expected directions by setting appropriate parameters (L, T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the discrimination of brief empty time intervals and compared three different sensory modality conditions for marking time: when two successive signals are tactile (intramodal condition, TT), and when a first tactile signal is followed by a either a visual (V) or an auditory (A) signal (intermodal conditions: TV and TA). Twelve participants completed a bisection task over the course of eight experimental sessions. Three factors were manipulated: the marker modality (TT, TV, and TA), the duration range (300 and 900 ms), and the preparation (certainty, uncertainty). In the latter case, participants knew that the first marker was T, but were uncertain about the modality of the second marker. In general, TT intervals were better discriminated than intermodal intervals at 300 ms, but this effect fades at 900 ms. No difference in the discrimination level was observed between the intermodal conditions. For the perceived duration, there was no difference between TT and TA conditions, but the TV intervals were perceived as longer than the TT intervals. As well, the TV intervals were perceived as longer than the TA intervals. These results are interpreted in terms of attentional and sensory effects caused by the signals themselves (onset and alerting properties, prior entry). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex courtships have been described for neotropical frogs, but detailed quantifications of calls emitted during this behavior are still rare. Herein, we describe the courtship call of Bokermannohyla ibitiguara, a gladiator tree frog from the Brazilian Cerrado, as well as the female behavior during court-ship, and the clutch characteristics. Moreover, we statistically compare the acoustic parameters of the advertisement and courtship calls. We observed that the female also touches the male during courtship and that the courtship call is overall similar to the long note of the advertisement call. However, we uncovered significant differences in frequencies and pulses between these two call types emitted by the same male. This ability to modify call parameters is consistent with previous results in aggressive con-texts and reinforces sexual selection as a strong mechanism shaping call variation in this species. This is the third courtship call described for the genus and we emphasize that the description of rare behaviors, even in artificial conditions, is important to advance the field of behavioral ecology across taxa.

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Peripersonal Space (PPS) is defined as the space close to the body where all interactions between the individual and the environment take place. Behavioural experiments on PPS exploit multisensory integration, using Multisensory Visuo-Tactile stimuli (MVT), whose visual and tactile components target the same body part (i.e. the face, the hand, the foot). However, the effects of visual and tactile stimuli targeting different body parts on PPS representation are unknown, and the relationship with the RTs for Tactile-Only stimuli is unclear. In this study, we addressed two research questions: (1) if the MVT-RTs are independent of Tactile-Only-RTs and if the latter is influenced by time-dependency effects, and (2) if PPS estimations derived from MVT-RTs depend on the location of the Visual or Tactile component of MVTs. We studied 40 right-handed participants, manipulating the body location (right hand, cheek or foot) and the distance of administration. Visual and Tactile components targeted different or the same body parts and were delivered respectively at five distances. RTs to Tactile-Only trials showed a non-monotonic trend, depending on the delay of stimulus administration. Moreover, RTs to Multisensory Visuo-Tactile trials were found to be dependent on the Distance and location of the Visual component of the stimulus. In conclusion, our results show that Tactile-Only RTs should be removed from Visuo-Tactile RTs and that the Visual and Tactile components of Visuo-Tactile stimuli do not necessarily have to target the same body part. These results have a relevant impact on the study of PPS representations, providing new important methodological information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of people worldwide suffer motor or sensory impairment due to stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, and motor neuron diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). A brain-computer interface (BCI), which links the brain directly to a computer, offers a new way to study the brain and potentially restore impairments in patients living with these debilitating conditions. One of the challenges currently facing BCI technology, however, is to minimize surgical risk while maintaining efficacy. Minimally invasive techniques, such as stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) have become more widely used in clinical applications in epilepsy patients since they can lead to fewer complications. SEEG depth electrodes also give access to sulcal and white matter areas of the brain but have not been widely studied in brain-computer interfaces. Here we show the first demonstration of decoding sulcal and subcortical activity related to both movement and tactile sensation in the human hand. Furthermore, we have compared decoding performance in SEEG-based depth recordings versus those obtained with electrocorticography electrodes (ECoG) placed on gyri. Initial poor decoding performance and the observation that most neural modulation patterns varied in amplitude trial-to-trial and were transient (significantly shorter than the sustained finger movements studied), led to the development of a feature selection method based on a repeatability metric using temporal correlation. An algorithm based on temporal correlation was developed to isolate features that consistently repeated (required for accurate decoding) and possessed information content related to movement or touch-related stimuli. We subsequently used these features, along with deep learning methods, to automatically classify various motor and sensory events for individual fingers with high accuracy. Repeating features were found in sulcal, gyral, and white matter areas and were predominantly phasic or phasic-tonic across a wide frequency range for both HD (high density) ECoG and SEEG recordings. These findings motivated the use of long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks (RNNs) which are well-suited to handling transient input features. Combining temporal correlation-based feature selection with LSTM yielded decoding accuracies of up to 92.04 ± 1.51% for hand movements, up to 91.69 ± 0.49% for individual finger movements, and up to 83.49 ± 0.72% for focal tactile stimuli to individual finger pads while using a relatively small number of SEEG electrodes. These findings may lead to a new class of minimally invasive brain-computer interface systems in the future, increasing its applicability to a wide variety of conditions.

Millions of people worldwide suffer motor or sensory impairment due to stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, and motor neuron diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). A brain-computer interface (BCI), which links the brain directly to a computer, offers a new way to study the brain and potentially restore impairments in patients living with these debilitating conditions. One of the challenges currently facing BCI technology, however, is to minimize surgical risk while maintaining efficacy. Minimally invasive techniques, such as stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) have become more widely used in clinical applications in epilepsy patients since they can lead to fewer complications. SEEG depth electrodes also give access to sulcal and white matter areas of the brain but have not been widely studied in brain-computer interfaces. Here we show the first demonstration of decoding sulcal and subcortical activity related to both movement and tactile sensation in the human hand. Furthermore, we have compared decoding performance in SEEG-based depth recordings versus those obtained with electrocorticography electrodes (ECoG) placed on gyri. Initial poor decoding performance and the observation that most neural modulation patterns varied in amplitude trial-to-trial and were transient (significantly shorter than the sustained finger movements studied), led to the development of a feature selection method based on a repeatability metric using temporal correlation. An algorithm based on temporal correlation was developed to isolate features that consistently repeated (required for accurate decoding) and possessed information content related to movement or touch-related stimuli. We subsequently used these features, along with deep learning methods, to automatically classify various motor and sensory events for individual fingers with high accuracy. Repeating features were found in sulcal, gyral, and white matter areas and were predominantly phasic or phasic-tonic across a wide frequency range for both HD (high density) ECoG and SEEG recordings. These findings motivated the use of long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks (RNNs) which are well-suited to handling transient input features. Combining temporal correlation-based feature selection with LSTM yielded decoding accuracies of up to 92.04 ± 1.51% for hand movements, up to 91.69 ± 0.49% for individual finger movements, and up to 83.49 ± 0.72% for focal tactile stimuli to individual finger pads while using a relatively small number of SEEG electrodes. These findings may lead to a new class of minimally invasive brain-computer interface systems in the future, increasing its applicability to a wide variety of conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Prior visual experience of 2-D abstract shapes presented on a screen enhanced how 6-8 year olds explored complementary 3-D objects via touch, haptic exploration, to extract shape features to match to sounds. • After visual experience of 2-D abstract shapes, 6-8 years-old children used more effective and efficient haptic exploration strategies to extract features of complementary shapes to match to sounds in early trials. • After prior visual experience of 2-D abstract shapes, 6-8 years-old children use fewer ineffective haptic exploration strategies to extract features of complementary shapes to match to sounds in later trials. Sound–shape correspondence refers to the preferential mapping of information across the senses, such as associating a nonsense word like bouba with rounded abstract shapes and kiki with spiky abstract shapes. Here we focused on audio-tactile (AT) sound–shape correspondences between nonsense words and abstract shapes that are felt but not seen. Despite previous research indicating a role for visual experience in establishing AT associations, it remains unclear how visual experience facilitates AT correspondences. Here we investigated one hypothesis: seeing the abstract shapes improve haptic exploration by (a) increasing effective haptic strategies and/or (b) decreasing ineffective haptic strategies. We analyzed five haptic strategies in video-recordings of 6- to 8-year-old children obtained in a previous study. We found the dominant strategy used to explore shapes differed based on visual experience. Effective strategies, which provide information about shape, were dominant in participants with prior visual experience, whereas ineffective strategies, which do not provide information about shape, were dominant in participants without prior visual experience. With prior visual experience, poking—an effective and efficient strategy—was dominant, whereas without prior visual experience, uncategorizable and ineffective strategies were dominant. These findings suggest that prior visual experience of abstract shapes in 6- to 8-year-olds can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of haptic exploration, potentially explaining why prior visual experience can increase the strength of AT sound–shape correspondences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vision, hearing, olfaction, taste, and touch comprise the sensory modalities of most vertebrates. With these senses, the animal receives information about its environment. How this information is organized, interpreted, and experienced is known as perception. The study of the sensory abilities of animals and their implications for behavior is central not only to ethology but also to animal welfare. Sensory ability, perception, and behavior are closely linked. Horses and humans share the five most common sensory modalities, however, their ranges and capacities differ, so that horses are unlikely to perceive their surroundings in a similar manner to humans. Understanding equine perceptual abilities and their differences is important when horses and human interact, as these abilities are pivotal for the response of the horse to any changes in its surroundings. This review aims to provide an overview of the current knowledge on the sensory abilities of horses. The information is discussed within an evolutionary context and also includes a practical perspective, outlining potential ways to mitigate risks of injuries and enhance positive horse-human interactions. The equine sensory apparatus includes panoramic visual capacities with acuities similar to those of red-green color-blind humans as well as aural abilities that, in some respects exceed human hearing and a highly developed sense of smell, all of which influence how horses react in various situations. Equine sensitivity to touch has been studied surprisingly sparingly despite tactile stimulation being the major interface of horse training. We discuss the potential use of sensory enrichment/positive sensory stimulation to improve the welfare of horses in various situations e.g. using odors, touch or sound to enrich the environment or to appease horses. In addition, equine perception is affected by factors such as breed, individuality, age, and in some cases even color, emphasizing that different horses may need different types of management. Understanding the sensory abilities of horses is central to the emerging discipline of equitation science, which comprises the gamut of horse-human interactions. Therefore, sensory abilities continue to warrant scientific focus, with more research to enable us to understand different horses and their various needs.

Postural control is an essential function of the human body that uses several senses and information from the body as input, processes the input and then provides output to the muscles for control. In this study, we examine a method wherein several matrix-shaped tactile stimuli (MSTS) located on the skin of the trunk are used to away subjects' bodies. To clarify the relationship between body sway and the MSTS, the subjects were tracked using a high-speed camera, a foot pressure distribution measuring instrument, and two acceleration sensors. Owing to the nature of using human subjects, the resulting data had high variance; therefore, each trial data set exhibits different features. The effects of each MSTS on body sway and the dynamics of body sway are discussed and evaluated here. Additionally, we propose a single trial analysis method based on the clustering based Gaussian mixture model and smoothing filtering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primates use their hands to actively touch objects and collect information. To study tactile information processing, it is important for participants to experience tactile stimuli through active touch while monitoring brain activities. Here, we developed a pneumatic tactile stimulus delivery system (pTDS) that delivers various tactile stimuli on a programmed schedule and allows voluntary finger touches during MRI scanning. The pTDS uses a pneumatic actuator to move tactile stimuli and place them in a finger hole. A photosensor detects the time when an index finger touches a tactile stimulus, enabling the analysis of the touch-elicited brain responses. We examined brain responses while the participants actively touched braille objects presented by the pTDS. BOLD responses during tactile perception were significantly stronger in a finger touch area of the contralateral somatosensory cortex compared with that of visual perception. The pTDS enables MR studies of brain mechanisms for tactile processes through natural finger touch. • We developed a pneumatic tactile stimulus delivery system (pTDS) for MR studies. • The pTDS enables the delivery of various types of tactile stimuli using tactile blocks. • An optical finger sensor allows for precise time detection of the tactile perception. • We demonstrated the feasibility of the pTDS in a human fMRI study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]