Segregation of Tactile Input Features in Neurons of the Cuneate Nucleus

Jörntell, Henrik; Bengtsson, Fredrik; Geborek, Pontus; Spanne, Anton; Terekhov, Alexander V.; Hayward, Vincent

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.07.038

Cited by 121 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In their study, participants were able to estimate the length of the motion path of the object on the basis of the simulated vibrations, which required inferring the motion kinematics. An integration of slip-induced vibrations with other tactile motion cues would further support the emerging view of submodality convergence in the tactile system (Jörntell et al 2014;Saal and Bensmaia 2014).…”

Section: Vibrations As a Cue To Tactile Speedmentioning

confidence: 64%

The role of vibration in tactile speed perception

Dallmann

Ernst

Moscatelli

2015

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Dallmann CJ, Ernst MO, Moscatelli A. The role of vibration in tactile speed perception. J Neurophysiol 114: 3131-3139, 2015. First published September 30, 2015 doi:10.1152/jn.00621.2015.-The relative motion between the surface of an object and our fingers produces patterns of skin deformation such as stretch, indentation, and vibrations. In this study, we hypothesized that motion-induced vibrations are combined with other tactile cues for the discrimination of tactile speed. Specifically, we hypothesized that vibrations provide a critical cue to tactile speed on surfaces lacking individually detectable features like dots or ridges. Thus masking vibrations unrelated to slip motion should impair the discriminability of tactile speed, and the effect should be surface-dependent. To test this hypothesis, we measured the precision of participants in discriminating the speed of moving surfaces having either a fine or a ridged texture, while adding masking vibratory noise in the working range of the fast-adapting mechanoreceptive afferents. Vibratory noise significantly reduced the precision of speed discrimination, and the effect was much stronger on the fine-textured than on the ridged surface. On both surfaces, masking vibrations at intermediate frequencies of 64 Hz (65-m peak-topeak amplitude) and 128 Hz (10 m) had the strongest effect, followed by high-frequency vibrations of 256 Hz (1 m) and lowfrequency vibrations of 32 Hz (50 and 25 m). These results are consistent with our hypothesis that slip-induced vibrations concur to the discrimination of tactile speed.

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Section: Vibrations As a Cue To Tactile Speedmentioning

confidence: 64%

The role of vibration in tactile speed perception

Dallmann

Ernst

Moscatelli

2015

Journal of Neurophysiology

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“…Prior research has shed light on mechanical signals generated during object palpation or manipulation, the transduction of such signals into neural signals, and the salience of different contact-generated stimuli. It has been shown that the responses of somatosensory neurons should be understood in light of perceptual functions that integrate input from several tactile submodalities (1,2).…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of cutaneous vibration during whole-hand haptic interactions

Shao

Hayward

Visell

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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140

118

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We investigated the propagation patterns of cutaneous vibration in the hand during interactions with touched objects. Prior research has highlighted the importance of vibrotactile signals during haptic interactions, but little is known of how vibrations propagate throughout the hand. Furthermore, the extent to which the patterns of vibrations reflect the nature of the objects that are touched, and how they are touched, is unknown. Using an apparatus comprised of an array of accelerometers, we mapped and analyzed spatial distributions of vibrations propagating in the skin of the dorsal region of the hand during active touch, grasping, and manipulation tasks. We found these spatial patterns of vibration to vary systematically with touch interactions and determined that it is possible to use these data to decode the modes of interaction with touched objects. The observed vibration patterns evolved rapidly in time, peaking in intensity within a few milliseconds, fading within 20-30 ms, and yielding interaction-dependent distributions of energy in frequency bands that span the range of vibrotactile sensitivity. These results are consistent with findings in perception research that indicate that vibrotactile information distributed throughout the hand can transmit information regarding explored and manipulated objects. The results may further clarify the role of distributed sensory resources in the perceptual recovery of object attributes during active touch, may guide the development of approaches to robotic sensing, and could have implications for the rehabilitation of the upper extremity.touch | haptics | vibration | cutaneous | skin W hen we touch an object, a cascade of mechanical events ensues, and through it, vibration is transmitted, not just to the fingertips, but broadly within the hard and soft tissues of the hand. Prior research has shed light on mechanical signals generated during object palpation or manipulation, the transduction of such signals into neural signals, and the salience of different contact-generated stimuli. It has been shown that the responses of somatosensory neurons should be understood in light of perceptual functions that integrate input from several tactile submodalities (1, 2).Tactile mechanics yield numerous perceptual cues that inform the brain about key properties of the external mechanical world such as the presence of an object through contact (3), slip against a surface (4), object deformation (5, 6), and object shape (7,8). Among these cues, touch-induced vibrations play important roles. Until recently, it has been assumed that perceptual information generated during haptic interaction is confined to the region of skin-object contact. It has subsequently been demonstrated, however, that perceptually meaningful mechanical energy can propagate away from the origin of contact, sometimes beyond the hand itself (9, 10), and that humans are capable of using this information to evaluate surface roughness (11). Recent measurements have demonstrated that skin vibrations reflect the fin...

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“…Another recent study systematically tested haptic features, such as contact initiation and cessation, slip, and rolling contact, in glabrous cat skin (Jörntell et al 2014) and clearly demonstrated that each haptic feature was distinctively represented by a combination of DCN neuronal activities. The authors analyzed 10 different periods between 15 and 150 ms after stimulus onset and showed that a linear classification of haptic features was evident even at 30 ms; the linear classification was based on the number of spikes in short time windows (bins) of 5-10 ms.…”

Section: Alteration Of Firing Pattern By Stimulus Featuresmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…When the stimulus features change, the firing pattern changes due to subtle differences in the relative timing of spikes in individual tactile afferents. Indeed, some previous studies have reported that the activities of DCN neurons change depending on stimulus features (Castiglioni and Kruger 1985;Jörntell et al 2014); however, there are no numerical evaluations of the firing patterns (temporal structure of spike trains) of individual neuron in these studies. In a rat study, controlled air-jet stimuli administered in different directions were applied to the hairy skin and directional differences in the neuronal responses were detected by visual inspection (Castiglioni and Kruger 1985).…”

Section: Alteration Of Firing Pattern By Stimulus Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Patterns of Individual Neuronal Firing in Rat Dorsal Column Nuclei Provide Information Required for Somatosensory Discrimination

Shishido

Tsuruo

2017

Tohoku J. Exp. Med.

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A wealth of mechanical information from the body generates various forms of sensory experience during touch or kinesthesia. Dorsal column nuclei (DCN) in the medulla are the first relay station for somatosensory inputs from peripheral receptors. These nuclei integrate somatosensory information and send the output to higher-order centers; therefore, investigating the firing patterns of DCN neurons should elucidate coding principles within the somatosensory system. In this study, we quantified the firing patterns of DCN neurons and examined whether the firing patterns of particular neurons are altered when moving tactile stimuli are applied in different directions. The activities of 17 neurons in the DCN of anesthetized rats were selected and their firing patterns were analyzed using LvR, which refers to the local variation of intervals of action potentials (i.e., the cross-correlation between consecutive intervals of action potentials) compensated by the refractoriness constant, R. The LvR of the 17 neurons ranged widely from 0.35 to 2.28. Of the 17 neurons, 12 responded to hair deflection (hair neurons), whereas five responded specifically to movement of forelimb joints. In 11 of 12 hair neurons, moving stimuli were applied in two to four different directions, which yielded 25 pairs of comparisons. Of these, 14 pairs (56%) showed significant differences in LvR. Among these 14 pairs, the range of LvR fluctuation was 0.13 ± 0.06 (mean ± standard deviation) and its effect size (Cohen's d) was 0.6 ± 0.2. These results suggest that the firing pattern of individual DCN neurons may contribute to somatosensory discrimination.

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Segregation of Tactile Input Features in Neurons of the Cuneate Nucleus

Cited by 121 publications

References 46 publications

The role of vibration in tactile speed perception

The role of vibration in tactile speed perception

Spatial patterns of cutaneous vibration during whole-hand haptic interactions

Temporal Patterns of Individual Neuronal Firing in Rat Dorsal Column Nuclei Provide Information Required for Somatosensory Discrimination

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