Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

Comparing tactile pattern and vibrotactile frequency discrimination: a human FMRI study.

Yiwen Li Hegner1, Ying Lee, Wolfgang Grodd

  • 1MEG Center, University of Tübingen, Tubingen, Germany. yiwen.li@med.uni-tuebingen.de

Journal of Neurophysiology
|May 12, 2010
PubMed
Summary

This study reveals that processing tactile patterns and vibrotactile frequencies share common brain areas but utilize distinct neural mechanisms. Spatial pattern discrimination involves more right-hemisphere activation than temporal frequency processing.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Prior exposure to speech rapidly modulates cortical processing of high-level linguistic structure.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026
Same author

Psychophysiological effects of low-frequency sound mediated by room size, room shape, and stimulus duration.

Frontiers in cognition·2026
Same author

Comparison of volume- and surface-based magnetic resonance imaging morphometry algorithms in the detection of focal cortical dysplasia.

Epilepsia·2026
Same author

Objective data-driven personalised approach to diagnosis of chronic tinnitus: the Tinnitus Detection (TIDE) project - protocol for the identification and validation of a biomarker for tinnitus.

BMJ open·2026
Same author

Sleep magnetoencephalography enhances detection and source imaging of seizures and fast oscillations in focal cortical dysplasia.

Epilepsia·2026
Same author

Automated solid phase extraction of environmental lipid biomarkers.

Journal of chromatography. A·2026

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Processing
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Understanding how the brain processes tactile information is crucial for neuroscience.
  • Tactile perception involves discriminating various features like spatial patterns and temporal frequencies.
  • Cortical mechanisms underlying these distinct tactile processing streams remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the extent to which the discrimination of tactile patterns and vibrotactile frequencies share common cortical areas.
  • To identify specific cortical areas involved in processing particular features of tactile stimuli using an adaptation paradigm.
  • To compare the neural substrates underlying spatial tactile pattern processing versus temporal vibrotactile frequency processing.

Main Methods:

More Related Videos

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects
07:32

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

Published on: September 1, 2016

Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
10:25

Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Published on: June 5, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects
07:32

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

Published on: September 1, 2016

Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
10:25

Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Published on: June 5, 2017

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed in healthy right-handed subjects.
  • A delayed-match-to-sample (DMTS) task was used to assess discrimination of tactile patterns and vibrotactile frequencies.
  • An adaptation paradigm was utilized to identify task-specific cortical activations and analyze Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent (BOLD) responses.

Main Results:

  • Both tactile pattern and vibrotactile frequency discrimination recruited common sensory-motor pathway regions, including bilateral somatosensory areas, premotor cortex, and anterior insula.
  • The right intraparietal sulcus (IPS), supramarginal gyrus (SMG)/parietal operculum (PO) showed significantly greater activation during pattern discrimination.
  • BOLD adaptation, indicative of neural processing, was observed in bilateral IPS, right anterior insula, and SMG/PO for the pattern task, but not for the frequency task. Right hemisphere dominance was noted for pattern processing.

Conclusions:

  • Common cortical areas support both spatial tactile pattern and temporal vibrotactile frequency processing.
  • Distinct neuronal mechanisms underlie tactile spatial and temporal processing, evidenced by differential BOLD activation patterns and adaptation.
  • The right hemisphere's heightened involvement in pattern discrimination suggests a role in spatial tactile processing.