title: Brain networks involved in tactile speed classification of moving dot patterns: the effects of speed and dot periodicity.
abstract: Humans are able to judge the speed of an object's motion by touch. Research has suggested that tactile judgment of speed is influenced by physical properties of the moving object, though the neural mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate brain networks that may be involved in tactile speed classification and how such networks may be affected by an object's texture. Participants were asked to classify the speed of 2-D raised dot patterns passing under their right middle finger. Activity in the parietal operculum, insula, and inferior and superior frontal gyri was positively related to the motion speed of dot patterns. Activity in the postcentral gyrus and superior parietal lobule was sensitive to dot periodicity. Psycho-physiological interaction (PPI) analysis revealed that dot periodicity modulated functional connectivity between the parietal operculum (related to speed) and postcentral gyrus (related to dot periodicity). These results suggest that texture-sensitive activity in the primary somatosensory cortex and superior parietal lobule influences brain networks associated with tactually-extracted motion speed. Such effects may be related to the influence of surface texture on tactile speed judgment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Bioengineering, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.|Section on Functional Imaging Methods, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, 637332, Singapore.|Division of Cerebral Integration, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan.|Department of Physiological Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, 240-0193, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kitada
authors.affiliation: ATR Brain Activity Imaging Center, Seika-cho 619-0288, Japan.
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kochiyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Bioengineering, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.|Section on Functional Imaging Methods, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Yinghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makita
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Bioengineering, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Bioengineering, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.|Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Ministry of Education, China.
authors.forename: Jinglong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Cerebral Integration, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan.|Department of Physiological Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, 240-0193, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sadato
mesh_terms: D063132:Connectome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009038:Motion; D010507:Periodicity; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception; D055815:Young Adult