Vibrotactile information improves proprioceptive reaching target localization. 2018

Laura Mikula, and Sofia Sahnoun, and Laure Pisella, and Gunnar Blohm, and Aarlenne Zein Khan
Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), ImpAct Team, Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR 5292, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France.

When pointing to parts of our own body (e.g., the opposite index finger), the position of the target is derived from proprioceptive signals. Consistent with the principles of multisensory integration, it has been found that participants better matched the position of their index finger when they also had visual cues about its location. Unlike vision, touch may not provide an additional information about finger position in space, since fingertip tactile information theoretically remains the same irrespective of the postural configuration of the upper limb. However, since tactile and proprioceptive information are ultimately coded within the same population of posterior parietal neurons within high-level spatial representations, we nevertheless hypothesized that additional tactile information could benefit the processing of proprioceptive signals. To investigate the influence of tactile information on proprioceptive localization, we asked 19 participants to reach with the right hand towards the opposite unseen index finger (proprioceptive target). Vibrotactile stimuli were applied to the target index finger prior to movement execution. We found that participants made smaller errors and more consistent reaches following tactile stimulation. These results demonstrate that transient touch provided at the proprioceptive target improves subsequent reaching precision and accuracy. Such improvement was not observed when tactile stimulation was delivered to a distinct body part (the shoulder). This suggests a specific spatial integration of touch and proprioception at the level of high-level cortical body representations, resulting in touch improving position sense.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D011434 Proprioception Sensory functions that transduce stimuli received by proprioceptive receptors in joints, tendons, muscles, and the INNER EAR into neural impulses to be transmitted to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. Proprioception provides sense of stationary positions and movements of one's body parts, and is important in maintaining KINESTHESIA and POSTURAL BALANCE. Labyrinthine Sense,Position Sense,Posture Sense,Sense of Equilibrium,Vestibular Sense,Sense of Position,Equilibrium Sense,Sense, Labyrinthine,Sense, Position,Sense, Posture,Sense, Vestibular
D005260 Female Females
D005385 Fingers Four or five slender jointed digits in humans and primates, attached to each HAND. Finger
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000704 Analysis of Variance A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable. ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses
D014110 Touch Sensation of making physical contact with objects, animate or inanimate. Tactile stimuli are detected by MECHANORECEPTORS in the skin and mucous membranes. Tactile Sense,Sense of Touch,Taction,Sense, Tactile,Senses, Tactile,Tactile Senses,Tactions,Touch Sense,Touch Senses
D014732 Vibration A continuing periodic change in displacement with respect to a fixed reference. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Vibrations

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