title: Enhanced tactile acuity through mental states.
abstract: Bodily training typically evokes behavioral and perceptual gains, enforcing neuroplastic processes and affecting neural representations. We investigated the effect on somatosensory perception of a three-day Zen meditation exercise, a purely mental intervention. Tactile spatial discrimination of the right index finger was persistently improved by only 6 hours of mental-sensory focusing on this finger, suggesting that intrinsic brain activity created by mental states can alter perception and behavior similarly to external stimulation.
authors: Institute fur Neuroinformatics, Neural Plasticity Lab, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany.|Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.
authors: Sebastian T
authors: ST
authors: Philipp
authors: Institute fur Neuroinformatics, Neural Plasticity Lab, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany.
authors: Tobias
authors: T
authors: Kalisch
authors: Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Wachtler
authors: Institute fur Neuroinformatics, Neural Plasticity Lab, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany.|Clinic of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany.
authors: Hubert R
authors: HR
authors: Dinse
mesh_terms: D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*