title: Juggling reveals a decisional component to tactile suppression.
abstract: Goal-directed movements are characterized by sensory suppression, that is, by decreased sensitivity to tactile stimuli. In the present study, we investigated tactile suppression during movement using a complex motor task: basic 3-ball juggling. It was hypothesized that a decrease in tactile sensitivity would be observed, together with a shift in participants' response bias while juggling. In a first experiment, participants had to detect a short gap in an otherwise continuous vibratory stimulus, which was delivered to their wrist under conditions of rest or else while juggling. In a second experiment, participants detected a short time gap in a continuous auditory signal, under the same conditions. In a final control experiment performed at rest, participants detected a short time gap in an auditory or tactile signal. In an additional condition, the detection of a gap in tactile stimulation was required under conditions of intramodal tactile interference. Participants were significantly less sensitive to detect a gap in tactile stimulation whilst juggling. Most importantly, these results were paired with a significant shift toward participants adopting a more conservative criterion when responding to the presence of the gap (i.e. they were more likely to say that a gap was not present). Taken together, these results demonstrate movement-related tactile sensory suppression and point to a decisional component in tactile suppression, thus suggesting that tactile suppression could already be triggered in the brain ahead of the motor command.
authors: Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. georgiana.juravle@psy.ox.ac.uk
authors: Georgiana
authors: G
authors: Juravle
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Spence
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult