Document Detail


Temporal gap detection in tactile channels.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  14675963     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The ability of observers to detect temporal gaps in bursts of sinusoids or bursts of band-limited noise was measured to assess the temporal acuity of Pacinian (P) and non-Pacinian (NP) tactile information processing channels. The P channel was isolated by delivering high frequency sinusoids or high frequency noise through a large 1.5-cm2 contactor to the thenar eminence. The NP channels were isolated from the P channel by delivering these stimuli as well as stimuli with lower frequencies through a small 0.01-cm2 contactor to the same site. Gap detection thresholds were higher for gaps in noise than for gaps in sinusoids but did not differ among conditions designed to isolate P and NP channels. The finding that temporal acuity does not differ among channels supports the hypothesis that, after termination of a stimulus, the P and NP channels exhibit the same amount of neural persistence. Also consistent with this hypothesis are the earlier findings that the enhancement of the sensation magnitude of a stimulus by a prior stimulus (Verrillo and Gescheider, Percept Psychophys 18: 128-136, 1975) and the duration of sensation after the termination of a stimulus (Gescheider et al., J Acoust Soc Am 91: 1690-1696, 1992) are independent of stimulus frequency. One important implication of this hypothesis, if true, is that the presence of temporal summation in the P channel and its absence in the NP channels, results, not from the lack of neural persistence in the NP channels, but instead, in marked contrast to the P channel, from the lack of a mechanism for integrating persistent neural activity over time.
Authors:
George A Gescheider; Stanley J Bolanowski; Sarah K Chatterton
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Somatosensory & motor research     Volume:  20     ISSN:  0899-0220     ISO Abbreviation:  Somatosens Mot Res     Publication Date:  2003  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2003-12-16     Completed Date:  2004-04-12     Revised Date:  2007-11-14    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904127     Medline TA:  Somatosens Mot Res     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  239-47     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USA. ggeschei@hamilton.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Artifacts
Female
Humans
Male
Mechanotransduction, Cellular / physiology
Pacinian Corpuscles / physiology*
Reaction Time / physiology
Sensory Thresholds / physiology
Touch / physiology*
Vibration*
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
R01NS38661/NS/NINDS NIH HHS

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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