Enhanced tactile acuity through mental states

Philipp, Sebastian Thomas; Kalisch, Tobias; Wachtler, Thomas; Dinse, Hubert R.

doi:10.1038/srep13549

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Our results are supported by a similar experiment reported by Philipp et al ( 2015 ). The authors describe an experiment in which a Zen meditation exercise resulted in an enhanced tactile acuity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

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Feeling Touched: Empathy Is Associated With Performance in a Tactile Acuity Task

Schaefer

Joch

Rother

2021

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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The concept of empathy describes our capacity to understand the emotions and intentions of others and to relate to our conspecifics. Numerous studies investigated empathy as a state as well as a stable personality trait. For example, recent studies in neuroscience suggest, among other brain areas such as the insula or the ACC, a role of the somatosensory cortices for empathy (e.g., when observing someone else being touched). Since the classic understanding of the primary somatosensory cortex is to represent touch on the body surface, we here aimed to test whether tactile performance is linked to the personality trait empathy. To test this, we examined the tactile acuity of 95 healthy participants (mean age 31 years) by using a two-point discrimination threshold task at the index fingers. Trait empathy was assessed by employing the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), which measures self-reported empathy with four scales (empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy, and personal distress). Results of regression analyses suggested the subscale empathic concern to be positively associated with performance in the tactile acuity task. We discuss this finding in the light of recent studies on empathy and consider possible implications of tactile training to enhance empathy.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

“…A single needle was used as the control condition. The needles were applied at the tip of the left and right index fingers (D2) as previously described (Pleger et al, 2001 ; Philipp et al, 2015 ). Participants had to close their eyes prior beginning of the testing.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeling Touched: Empathy Is Associated With Performance in a Tactile Acuity Task

Schaefer

Joch

Rother

2021

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…In animals, attentional modulation is known to primarily affect the firing rates of neurons in superficial cortical layers of S-I, and a positive effect of attentional modulation on NDMA-dependent tactile plasticity has been assumed 29 . And indeed, whereas we did not find an influence of vision on tactile Hebbian learning in S-I, modulatory influences of attention on two-point discrimination thresholds exist 30 . If these initial assumptions were to be confirmed by future research, this would indicate a possible dissociation of modulatory influences on signal processing in S-I: whereas attentional modulation would primarily affect tactile processing in superficial cortical layers, non-afferent (visual) signals would primarily affect tactile processing in deep cortical layers.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

The influence of vision on tactile Hebbian learning

Kuehn

Doehler

Pleger

2017

Sci Rep

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NMDA-dependent Hebbian learning drives neuronal plasticity in different cortical areas, and across species. In the primary somatosensory cortex (S-I), Hebbian learning is induced via the persistent low-rate afferent stimulation of a small area of skin. In particular, plasticity is induced in superficial cortical layers II/III of the S-I cortex that represents the stimulated area of skin. Here, we used the model system of NMDA-dependent Hebbian learning to investigate the influence of non-afferent (visual) input on Hebbian plasticity in S-I. We induced Hebbian learning in 48 participants by applying 3 hours of tactile coactivation to the right index fingertip via small loudspeaker membranes. During coactivation, different groups viewed either touches to individual fingers, which is known to activate S-I receptive fields, touches to an object, which should not activate S-I receptive fields, or no touch at all. Our results show that coactivation significantly lowers tactile spatial discrimination thresholds at the stimulated finger post- versus pre-training across groups. However, we did not find evidence for a significant modulatory effect of visual condition on tactile spatial discrimination performance. This suggests that non-afferent (visual) signals do not interact with Hebbian learning in superficial cortical layers of S-I, but may integrate into deeper cortical layers instead.

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“…Meditators showed significantly larger cross-correlations (i.e., coherence 56 ) between arousal ratings and actual heartbeat than controls. Other findings suggest that task-specific improvements in body awareness are more likely within task-focused training paradigms 57–59 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between mindfulness and objective measures of body awareness: A meta-analysis

Treves

Tello

Davidson

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Although awareness of bodily sensations is a common mindfulness meditation technique, studies assessing the relationship between mindfulness and body awareness have provided mixed results. The current study sought to meta-analytically examine the relationship between mindfulness operationalized as a dispositional trait or a construct trained through short- (i.e., randomized controlled trials [RCTs]) or long-term mindfulness meditation practice with objective measures of body awareness accuracy. PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched. Studies were eligible if they reported the association between mindfulness and body awareness, were published in English, and included adults. Across 15 studies (17 independent samples), a small effect was found linking mindfulness with greater body awareness accuracy (g = 0.21 [0.08, 0.34], N = 879). When separated by study design, only RCTs continued to show a significant relationship (g = 0.20, [0.02, 0.38], k = 7, n = 505). Heterogeneity of effects was low (I2 < 25%), although with wide confidence intervals. Effects were not moderated by study quality. Low fail-safe N estimates reduce confidence in the observed effects. Results suggest a small but potentially detectable relationship between mindfulness and body awareness accuracy. Future investigations could examine individual differences in body awareness as a mechanism within mindfulness interventions.

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Enhanced tactile acuity through mental states

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Feeling Touched: Empathy Is Associated With Performance in a Tactile Acuity Task

Feeling Touched: Empathy Is Associated With Performance in a Tactile Acuity Task

The influence of vision on tactile Hebbian learning

The relationship between mindfulness and objective measures of body awareness: A meta-analysis

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