title: Persistence of visual-tactile enhancement in humans.
abstract: We report two experiments in which non-informative vision of the finger enhanced tactile acuity on the fingertip. The right index finger was passively lifted to contact a grating. Twelve participants judged orientations of tactile gratings while viewing either the fingertip, or a neutral object presented via a mirror at the fingertip's location. In Expt. 1, tactile orientation discrimination for near-threshold gratings was improved when viewing the fingertip, compared to viewing the neutral object. Experiment 2 examined the temporal persistence of this effect, and found significant visual-tactile enhancement when a dark interval of up to 10 s intervened between viewing the finger and tactile stimulation. These results suggest that viewing the body modulates the neural circuitry of primary somatosensory cortex, outlasting visual inputs.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taylor-Clarke
authors.forename: Steffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haggard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*