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Contralateral tactile masking between forearms
- Source :
- Experimental Brain Research. 232:821-826
- Publication Year :
- 2013
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2013.
-
Abstract
- Masking effects have been demonstrated in which tactile sensitivity is affected when one touch is close to another on the body surface. Such effects are likely a result of local lateral inhibitory circuits that sharpen the spatial tuning of a given tactile receptor. Mutually inhibitory pathways have also been demonstrated between cortical tactile maps of the two halves of the body. Occasional reports have indicated that touches on one hand or forearm can affect tactile sensitivity at contralateral locations. Here, we measure the spatial tuning and effect of posture on this contralateral masking effect. Tactile sensitivity was measured on one forearm, while vibrotactile masking stimulation was applied to the opposite arm. Results were compared to sensitivity while vibrotactile stimulation was applied to a control site on the right shoulder. Sensitivity on the forearm was reduced by over 3 dB when the arms were touching and by 0.52 dB when they were held parallel. The masking effect depended on the position of the masking stimulus. Its effectiveness fell off by 1 STD when the stimulus was 29 % of arm length from the corresponding contralateral point. This long-range inhibitory effect in the tactile system suggests a surprisingly intimate relationship between the two sides of the body.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Right shoulder
medicine.medical_specialty
Normal Distribution
Stimulation
Stimulus (physiology)
Vibrotactile stimulation
Audiology
Inhibitory postsynaptic potential
Vibration
Functional Laterality
Young Adult
Forearm
Physical Stimulation
Body surface
medicine
Humans
Inhibitory effect
General Neuroscience
Surgery
medicine.anatomical_structure
Touch
Sensory Thresholds
Female
Psychology
Perceptual Masking
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14321106 and 00144819
- Volume :
- 232
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Experimental Brain Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2ee296562c8d510f4f1f8fdeac09ec30