Complex tactile waveform discrimination

Complex vibrotactile waveforms consisting of two superimposed sinusoids at varying phases were presented to the fingertip, and observers made "same-different" judgments. It was found that the low-frequency (10Hz+30Hz) waveforms were discriminable from one another while discrimination of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2000-09, Vol.108 (3 Pt 1), p.1236-1245
Main Authors: Bensmaïa, S J, Hollins, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Mechanoreceptors - physiology
Models, Biological
Space life sciences
Touch - physiology
Vibration
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Summary:Complex vibrotactile waveforms consisting of two superimposed sinusoids at varying phases were presented to the fingertip, and observers made "same-different" judgments. It was found that the low-frequency (10Hz+30Hz) waveforms were discriminable from one another while discrimination of the high-frequency (100Hz+300Hz) vibrations was poor. High-frequency adaptation did not impair discrimination of the low-frequency waveforms, suggesting that the RA channel mediated discrimination. Low-frequency adaptation impaired discrimination of the high-frequency stimuli, suggesting that the RA channel likewise mediated the modest level of performance observed in the absence of an adapting stimulus. The results indicate that this channel encodes complex waveforms temporally. A simple model for low-frequency waveform discrimination is proposed. The results obtained with the high-frequency complex waveforms are compatible with the hypothesis that the PC channel integrates stimulus energy over time.
ISSN:0001-4966
1520-8524
DOI:10.1121/1.1288937