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Principles of tactile search over the body

Elizabeth J. Halfen, John F. Magnotti, Md. Shoaibur Rahman, Jeffrey M. Yau
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839084
Elizabeth J. Halfen
Departments of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030 USA
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John F. Magnotti
Departments of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030 USA
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Md. Shoaibur Rahman
Departments of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030 USA
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Jeffrey M. Yau
Departments of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030 USA
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  • For correspondence: jeffrey.yau@bcm.edu
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Abstract

Although we experience complex patterns over our entire body, how we selectively perceive multi-site touch over our bodies remains poorly understood. Here, we characterized tactile search behavior over the body using a tactile analog of the classic visual search task. Participants judged whether a target stimulus (e.g., 10-Hz vibration) was present or absent on the upper or lower limbs. When present, the target stimulus could occur alone or with distractor stimuli (e.g., 30-Hz vibrations) on other body locations. We varied the number and spatial configurations of the distractors as well as the target and distractor frequencies and measured the impact of these factors on search response times. First, we found that response times were faster on target-present trials compared to target-absent trials. Second, response times increased with the number of stimulated sites, suggesting a serial search process. Third, search performance differed depending on stimulus frequencies. This frequency-dependent behavior may be related to perceptual grouping effects based on timing cues. We constructed models to explore how the locations of the tactile cues influenced search behavior. Our modeling results reveal that, in isolation, cues on the index fingers make relatively greater contributions to search performance compared to stimulation experienced on other body sites. Additionally, co-stimulation of sites within the same limb or simply on the same body side preferentially influence search behavior. Our collective findings identify some principles of attentional search that are common to vision and touch, but others that highlight key differences that may be unique to body-based spatial perception.

New & Noteworthy Little is known about how we selectively experience multi-site touch over the body. Using a tactile analog of the classic visual search paradigm, we show that tactile search behavior for flutter cues is generally consistent with a serial search process. Modeling results reveal the preferential contributions of index finger stimulation and two-site interactions involving ipsilateral and within-limb patterns. Our results offer initial evidence for spatial and temporal principles underlying tactile search behavior over the body.

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  • The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted November 12, 2019.
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Principles of tactile search over the body
Elizabeth J. Halfen, John F. Magnotti, Md. Shoaibur Rahman, Jeffrey M. Yau
bioRxiv 839084; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839084
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Principles of tactile search over the body
Elizabeth J. Halfen, John F. Magnotti, Md. Shoaibur Rahman, Jeffrey M. Yau
bioRxiv 839084; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839084

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