Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Background: Transferring learned manipulations to new manipulation tasks has enabled humans to realize thousands of dexterous object manipulations in daily life. Two-digit grasp and three-digit grasp manipulations require different fingertip forces, and our brain can switch grasp types to ensure good performance according to motor memory. We hypothesized that several brain areas contribute to the execution of the new type of motor according to the motor memory. However, the motor memory mechanisms during this transfer period are still unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we aimed to investigate the cortical mechanisms involved in motor memory during the transfer phase of learned manipulation tasks. Methods: Using a custom-built T-shaped object with an adjustable weight distribution, the participants performed grasp and lift manipulation tasks under different conditions to simulate the learning and transfer phases. The learning phase consisted of four grasp-and-lift repetitions with one motor type, followed by a transfer phase with four repetitions involving different motors (adding or removing a digit). Results: By comparing brain activity in the learning and transfer phases, we identified three regions (the superior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus) associated with motor memory during the transfer of learned manipulations. Conclusions: Our findings improve the understanding of the role of the posterior parietal cortex in motor memory, highlighting how sensory information from memory and real-time input is integrated to generate novel motor control signals that guide the precise reapplication of control strategies. Furthermore, we believe that these areas contribute to motor learning from motor memory and may serve as key regions of interest for investigating neurodegenerative diseases.

DOI： 10.3390/brainsci14121184

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SAGE Publications  

Predicting the timing of incoming information allows brain to optimize information processing in dynamic environments. However, the effects of temporal predictions on tactile perception are not well established. In this study, two experiments were conducted to determine how temporal predictions interact with conditional probabilities in tactile perceptual processing. In Experiment 1, we explored the range of the interval between preceding ready cues and imperative targets in which temporal prediction effects can be observed. This prediction effect was observed for intervals of 500 and 1,000 ms. In Experiment 2, we investigated the benefits of temporal predictions on tactile perception while manipulating the conditional probability (setting the stimulus onset earlier or later than the predicted moment in short and long intervals). Our results revealed that this effect became stronger as the probability of the stimulus at the predicted time point increased under short-interval conditions. Together, our results show that the difficulty of transferring processing resources increases in temporally dynamic environments, suggesting a greater subjective cost associated with maladaptive responses to temporally uncertain events.

DOI： 10.1177/20416695241264736

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Other Link： https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/20416695241264736

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

(1) Background: Response inhibition refers to the conscious ability to suppress behavioral responses, which is crucial for effective cognitive control. Currently, research on response inhibition remains controversial, and the neurobiological mechanisms associated with response inhibition are still being explored. The Go/No-Go task is a widely used paradigm that can be used to effectively assess response inhibition capability. While many studies have utilized equal numbers of Go and No-Go trials, how different ratios affect response inhibition remains unknown; (2) Methods: This study investigated the impact of different ratios of Go and No-Go conditions on response inhibition using the Go/No-Go task combined with event-related potential (ERP) techniques; (3) Results: The results showed that as the proportion of Go trials decreased, behavioral performance in Go trials significantly improved in terms of response time, while error rates in No-Go trials gradually decreased. Additionally, the NoGo-P3 component at the central average electrodes (Cz, C1, C2, FCz, FC1, FC2, PCz, PC1, and PC2) exhibited reduced amplitude and latency; (4) Conclusions: These findings indicate that different ratios in Go/No-Go tasks influence response inhibition, with the brain adjusting processing capabilities and rates for response inhibition. This effect may be related to the brain’s predictive mechanism model.

DOI： 10.3390/brainsci14050414

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

Abstract

It is well known that information on stimulus orientation plays an important role in sensory processing. However, the neural mechanisms underlying somatosensory orientation perception are poorly understood. Adaptation has been widely used as a tool for examining sensitivity to specific features of sensory stimuli. Using the adaptation paradigm, we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to tactile orientation stimuli presented pseudo-randomly to the right-hand palm in trials with all the same or different orientations. Twenty participants were asked to count the tactile orientation stimuli. The results showed that the adaptation-related N60 component was observed around contralateral central-parietal areas, possibly indicating orientation processing in the somatosensory regions. Conversely, the adaptation-related N120 component was identified bilaterally across hemispheres, suggesting the involvement of the frontoparietal circuitry in further tactile orientation processing. P300 component was found across the whole brain in all conditions and was associated with task demands, such as attention and stimulus counting. These findings help provide an understanding of the mechanisms of tactile orientation processing in the human brain.

DOI： 10.1007/s00221-024-06783-1

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Other Link： https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-024-06783-1/fulltext.html

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Physiological Society  

Perceptual learning is not always specific to the trained task and stimuli. We demonstrate that both continuous attended sensory input and improved WM capacity can be used to enhance tactile angle discrimination (TAD) ability. Moreover, WM capacity improvement is important in generalizing the training effect to the TAD ability. These findings contribute to understanding the mechanism of perceptual learning generalization across tasks.

DOI： 10.1152/jn.00529.2021

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118867

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

Abstract

Previous studies have paid special attention to the relationship between local features (e.g., raised dots) and human roughness perception. However, the relationship between global features (e.g., curved surface) and haptic roughness perception is still unclear. In the present study, a series of roughness estimation experiments was performed to investigate how global features affect human roughness perception. In each experiment, participants were asked to estimate the roughness of a series of haptic stimuli that combined local features (raised dots) and global features (sinusoidal-like curves). Experiments were designed to reveal whether global features changed their haptic roughness estimation. Furthermore, the present study tested whether the exploration method (direct, indirect, and static) changed haptic roughness estimations and examined the contribution of global features to roughness estimations. The results showed that sinusoidal-like curved surfaces with small periods were perceived to be rougher than those with large periods, while the direction of finger movement and indirect exploration did not change this phenomenon. Furthermore, the influence of global features on roughness was modulated by local features, regardless of whether raised-dot surfaces or smooth surfaces were used. Taken together, these findings suggested that an object’s global features contribute to haptic roughness perceptions, while local features change the weight of the contribution that global features make to haptic roughness perceptions.

DOI： 10.1007/s00221-021-06289-0

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Other Link： https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-021-06289-0/fulltext.html

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.005

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Touch shape discrimination is not only closely related to tactile mechanoreceptors but also higher cognitive function. However, previous shape discrimination methods are difficult to complete in a short time, and the devices are complicated to operate and not user-friendly for nonprofessionals. Here, we propose a new method, the evaluation quantity of which is the angle discrimination threshold. In addition, to make this method easy to use for nonprofessionals, we designed a haptic angle sorting system, including the device and software. To evaluate this method, the angle sorting and two-angle discrimination experiments were compared, and it was found that participants spent significantly less time in the former experiment than in the latter. At the same time, there is a strong correlation between the performance of angle sorting and two-angle discrimination, which shows that the angle threshold obtained by the new method can also be used to evaluate the ability of touch discrimination. Moreover, the angle sorting results of different age groups also further demonstrate the feasibility of the method. The efficiency of this new method and the effectiveness of the system also provide a convenient means for evaluating haptic shape discrimination, which may have potential clinical application value in the early diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy and even in the evaluation of cognitive function.

DOI： 10.3390/app11157049

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SAGE Publications  

Working memory refers to the cognitive capacity to temporarily store and manipulate information from multiple sensory domains. Recent studies have shown that cognitive training can improve performance in both visual working memory and tactile working memory tasks. However, it is still unclear whether the effects of training can be transferred from one sensory modality to another. The current study assessed whether the training effect of the tactile orientation sequence task could transfer to visual orientation sequence and visuospatial working memory tasks. The results showed that participants’ accuracy in the tactile orientation sequence task was significantly increased after 9 days of training compared with that before training. Remarkably, participants’ accuracy in both the visual orientation sequence task and the visuospatial task was significantly improved after 9 days of training. These results suggest that it is possible to improve visual working memory through a transfer effect from tactile task training without practice in the visual domain, which opens a wide range of applications for tactile orientation sequence tasks.

DOI： 10.1177/21582440211031549

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Other Link： http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/21582440211031549

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117754

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1002/brb3.2033

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Other Link： https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/brb3.2033

Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/icma49215.2020.9233631

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Passive tactile perception is the ability to passively and statically perceive stimulus information coming from the skin; for example, the ability to sense spatial information is the strongest in the skin on the hands. This ability is termed tactile spatial acuity, and is measured by the tactile threshold or discrimination threshold. At present, the two-point threshold is extensively used as a measure of tactile spatial acuity, although many studies have indicated that critical deficits exist in two-point discrimination. Therefore, a computer-controlled tactile stimulus system was developed, the tactile semiautomated passive-finger angle stimulator (TSPAS), using the tactile angle discrimination threshold as a new measure for tactile spatial acuity. The TSPAS is a simple, easily operated system that applies raised angle stimuli to a subject's passive fingerpad, while controlling movement speed, distance, and contact duration. The components of the TSPAS are described in detail as well as the procedure to calculate the tactile angle discrimination threshold.

DOI： 10.3791/61218

PubMed

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Perceptual learning, which is not limited to sensory modalities such as vision and touch, emerges within a training session and between training sessions and is accompanied by the remodeling of neural connections in the cortex. However, limited knowledge exists regarding perceptual learning between training sessions. Although tactile studies have paid attention to between-session learning effects, there have been few studies asking fundamental questions regarding whether the time interval between training sessions affects tactile perceptual learning and generalization across tactile tasks. We investigated the effects of different training time intervals on the consecutive performance of a tactile angle discrimination (AD) task and a tactile orientation discrimination (OD) task training on tactile angle discriminability. The results indicated that in the short-interval training group, AD task performance significantly improved in the early stage of learning and nearly plateaued in the later stage, whereas in the long-interval training group, significant improvement was delayed and then also nearly plateaued in the later stage; additionally, improved OD task performance resulted in improved AD task performance. These findings suggest that training time interval affects the early stage of learning but not the later stage and that generalization occurs between different types of tactile tasks.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Perceptual learning, which constitutes important foundations of complicated cognitive processes, is learning better perception skills. We demonstrate that training time interval can affect the early stage of learning but not the later stage. Moreover, a tactile orientation discrimination training task can also improve tactile angle discrimination performance. These findings may expand the characteristics of between-session learning and help understand the mechanism of the generalization across tactile tasks.

DOI： 10.1152/jn.00161.2019

PubMed

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Human unmyelinated tactile afferents (CT afferents) in hairy skin are thought to be involved in the transmission of affective aspects of touch. How the perception of affective touch differs across human skin has made substantial progress; however, the majority of previous studies have mainly focused on the relationship between stroking velocities and pleasantness ratings. Here, we investigate how stroking hardness affects the perception of affective touch. Affective tactile stimulation was given with four different hardness of brushes at three different forces, which were presented to either palm or forearm. To quantify the physical factors of the stimuli (brush hardness), ten naïve, healthy participants assessed brush hardness using a seven-point scale. Based on these ten participants, five more participants were added to rate the hedonic value of brush stroking using a visual analogue scale (VAS). We found that pleasantness ratings over the skin resulted in a preference for light, soft stroking, which was rated as more pleasant when compared to heavy, hard stroking. Our results show that the hairy skin of the forearm is more susceptible to stroking hardness than the glabrous of the palm in terms of the perception of pleasantness. These findings of the current study extend the growing literature related to the effect of stroking characteristics on pleasantness ratings.

DOI： 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02141

PubMed

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Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/icma.2019.8816393

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Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/icma.2019.8816525

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

When humans perceive a sensation, their brains integrate inputs from sensory receptors and process them based on their expectations. The mechanisms of this predictive coding in the human somatosensory system are not fully understood. We fill a basic gap in our understanding of the predictive processing of somatosensation by examining the layer-specific activity in sensory input and predictive feedback in the human primary somatosensory cortex (S1). We acquired submillimeter functional magnetic resonance imaging data at 7T (n = 10) during a task of perceived, predictable, and unpredictable touching sequences. We demonstrate that the sensory input from thalamic projects preferentially activates the middle layer, while the superficial and deep layers in S1 are more engaged for cortico-cortical predictive feedback input. These findings are pivotal to understanding the mechanisms of tactile prediction processing in the human somatosensory cortex.

DOI： 10.1126/sciadv.aav9053

PubMed

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Frontiers Media S. A  

DOI： 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00662

Scopus

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385205666170801151630

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385205666170724143429

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1038/srep40931

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PubMed

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385204666160503161135

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385203666150804001349

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385203666150703164036

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00926

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1186/1129-2377-15-44

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Web of Science

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Web of Science

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：International Information Institute Ltd.  

Scopus

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.  

DOI： 10.2174/2213385211301010011

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japan Ergonomics Society  

In this paper, the effects of stimulus eccentricity and luminance on linear vection (LV) were examined with healthy young subjects. Five kinds of blue sine-wave patterns with different spatial frequencies (0.023, 0.037, 0.057, 0.090, 0.141 cycle/deg) were used, and six luminance conditions were modulated respectively of the central and peripheral vision field. The results show that LV is affected by high luminance in central vision field when the spatial frequency is from 0.037 to 0.057 cycle/deg while it does not depend on peripheral vision luminance in any spatial frequencies used in this study.

DOI： 10.5100/jje.49.18

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

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Other Link： https://jlc.jst.go.jp/DN/JALC/10015737372?from=CiNii

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ICMA.2013.6617906

Scopus

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

DOI： 10.1007/s13670-012-0007-4

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Other Link： http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13670-012-0007-4/fulltext.html

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ICCME.2012.6275749

Scopus

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ICCME.2012.6275623

Scopus

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3233/JAD-2012-111070

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.774

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Other Link： https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.774

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ICCME.2011.5876797

Scopus

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Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/iccme.2010.5558862

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Web of Science

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