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Related Concept Videos

Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex. This...
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The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback
05:43

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

Published on: May 23, 2019

Context effects in haptic perception of roughness.

Mirela Kahrimanovic1, Wouter M Bergmann Tiest, Astrid M L Kappers

  • 1Physics of Man, Universiteit Utrecht, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.kahrimanovic@uu.nl

Experimental Brain Research
|January 22, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Contextual factors significantly influence how we perceive surface roughness. Adaptation to one texture alters the perception of another, demonstrating contrast and assimilation effects in haptic perception.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback
05:43

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Published on: May 23, 2019

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Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
09:07

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations

Published on: September 16, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Perception

Background:

  • Haptic perception, the sense of touch, is crucial for interacting with the environment.
  • Understanding how contextual information influences tactile perception is key to understanding sensory processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of temporal and spatial context on haptic roughness perception.
  • To explore contrast and assimilation effects in tactile roughness discrimination.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted using embossed dot patterns with varying average dot distances.
  • A two-alternative forced-choice procedure measured discrimination thresholds and biases.
  • Stimuli were presented to adjacent fingers, with adaptation protocols applied to one finger.

Main Results:

  • Experiment 1 showed a contrast aftereffect: adaptation to a rough surface decreased perceived roughness, while adaptation to a smooth surface increased it.
  • Experiment 2 demonstrated an assimilation effect: perceived roughness shifted towards simultaneously presented adjacent stimuli.
  • Both temporal and spatial context were found to modulate haptic roughness perception.

Conclusions:

  • Contextual effects, including contrast and assimilation, play a significant role in haptic roughness perception.
  • These findings can be explained by the organization of cortical receptive fields.
  • Analogies with similar phenomena in visual perception are discussed, suggesting shared principles in sensory processing.