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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans

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Published on: January 15, 2018

Changing reference frames during the encoding of tactile events.

Elena Azañón¹, Salvador Soto-Faraco

¹Parc Científic de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.

Current Biology : CB

|July 16, 2008

Summary

The brain initially processes touch in a body-centered (somatotopic) map before updating it to an external space map. This unconscious, early processing influences tactile awareness and performance.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Somatosensory processing
Multisensory integration

Background:

The brain must integrate somatosensory, proprioceptive, and visual cues to map tactile sensations in external space, independent of arm posture.
Previous research suggested this remapping process but lacked temporal detail.
Understanding the time course of tactile spatial remapping is crucial for explaining tactile awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the temporal dynamics of multisensory interactions in tactile spatial remapping.
To explore the implications of this remapping process on tactile awareness in humans.
To differentiate between early, unconscious somatotopic processing and later, conscious external spatial processing of touch.

Main Methods:

Employed a crossmodal cueing paradigm to examine temporal course of multisensory interaction.

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Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans

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Published on: January 15, 2018

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Published on: May 23, 2019

Assessed tactile awareness and performance under different sensory cueing conditions.

Analyzed the timing of neural activity related to somatotopic versus external spatial frames of reference.

Main Results:

Tactile events are initially processed within an unconscious, somatotopic frame of reference before being mapped to external space.
This early somatotopic processing, termed a 'glimpse', precedes the externally-based conscious experience of touch.
Performance is significantly influenced by this fleeting, unconscious somatotopic representation.

Conclusions:

The brain utilizes an early feed-forward sweep to the primary somatosensory cortex for unconscious, somatotopic tactile processing.
Later, conscious tactile awareness relies on a network involving recurrent connections from association areas for external spatial mapping.
This temporal distinction explains the evolving nature of tactile perception and spatial awareness.