title: Decay in the effect of vibrotactile masking.
abstract: Vibrotactile forward masking experiments were conducted on the thenar eminence of the hand to determine the time course of masking in the Pacinian (P) or a non-Pacinian (NP I) channel. Brief masking and test stimuli that contained energy centered either below 27 or at 500 Hz were used to preferentially activate the NP I or P channels, respectively. Test thresholds were measured at different fixed delays ( Delta t) between the masking and test stimuli that ranged from 5 to 995 microseconds. Masking stimulus level was also varied from 5 to 25 dB above threshold. The masking effect followed an exponential decay with different time constants for each of the channels, but a similar asymptote (residual masking) for both channels. At the higher masking stimulus levels, the time constant for the P channel was about 40 microseconds, while the time constant for the NP I channel was about 100 microseconds. Residual masking in both channels increased about 1 dB for every 5-dB increase of masking stimulus level.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sensory Research, Syracuse University, new York 13244-5290, USA. makousj@vl.wustl.edu
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Makous
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Gescheider
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Bolanowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011601:Psychophysics; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch; D014732:Vibration