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Mechanisms of attention in touch
D M Lloyd1, S J Bolanowski, L Howard
1Unilever Research Laboratory, Bebington, Wirral, UK.
Somatosensory & Motor Research
|June 4, 1999
Summary
Cognitive processes like attention significantly impact tactile perception. Strategic attention enhances touch processing, while automatic attention can inhibit it, suggesting central cognitive control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Sensory Perception
Background:
- Higher-level cognitive processes, particularly attention, play a crucial role in modulating sensory perception.
- Understanding the interplay between attention and tactile processing is essential for deciphering somatosensation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of different attentional strategies on tactile stimulus processing.
- To explore the central versus peripheral mechanisms underlying attentional effects on touch.
- To examine cross-modal interactions between vision and tactile perception.
Main Methods:
- Experiments involving tactile stimuli presentation to the skin.
- Manipulation of attentional strategies (automatic vs. strategic orienting).
- Analysis of response to subsequent stimuli at the same body site, including inhibition of return (IOR).
Main Results:
- Automatic orienting to tactile stimuli induced inhibition of return (IOR) for subsequent stimuli at the same site.
- Strategic orientation of attention facilitated the processing of subsequent tactile stimuli.
- Effects were demonstrated to be centrally mediated by cognitive mechanisms, not peripheral masking.
Conclusions:
- Attentional mechanisms centrally modulate tactile perception, with different strategies yielding distinct outcomes.
- Cross-modal interactions, particularly visual attention to a body site, can facilitate tactile processing.
- Neural integration in areas like the superior colliculus and parietal lobe may underlie these effects.