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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: Dec 23, 2025

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects
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Differential width discrimination task for active and passive tactile discrimination in humans.

André Perrotta1, Carla Pais-Vieira2, Mehrab K Allahdad2,3

  • 1Centro de Investigação em Ciência e Tecnologia das Artes (CITAR), Escola da Artes, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal.

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|April 21, 2020
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Humans can distinguish narrow or wide apertures using active and passive tactile sensing. Electroencephalography revealed different brain activity patterns for each sensing method, offering insights into tactile processing.

Keywords:
Behavioral taskFingerSomatosensory cortex

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Human sensory perception
  • Tactile processing

Background:

  • Active and passive tactile discrimination involve distinct neural networks in rodents.
  • Human tactile processing has been studied, but the neurophysiology of width discrimination remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate a human width discrimination task mirroring rodent paradigms.
  • To investigate the neurophysiological underpinnings of active versus passive tactile width discrimination in humans.

Main Methods:

  • A human width discrimination task involving active or passive sampling of adjustable apertures.
  • Behavioral testing to assess discrimination accuracy.
  • Electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity during the task.

Main Results:

  • Human subjects accurately discriminated aperture widths down to 0.1 cm.
  • EEG data indicated distinct topographic brain maps for active and passive discrimination.
  • The results suggest different neural pathways are engaged during active and passive tactile exploration.

Conclusions:

  • The Human Differential Width Discrimination Task is effective for studying tactile processing.
  • Active and passive tactile width discrimination engage distinct neurophysiological mechanisms in humans.
  • This task provides a valuable tool for future research on human tactile perception.