Investigation of Some Parameters of the Cutaneous Threshold for Vibration
01 Nov 1962-Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (Acoustical Society of America)-Vol. 34, Iss: 11, pp 1768-1773
TL;DR: In this article, the sensitivity to vibration on the hand was determined as a function of frequency, contactor dimensions, and contactor configuration, and distance of the contactor from a rigid support.
Abstract: Sensitivity to vibration on the hand was determined as a function of frequency, contactor dimensions, contactor configuration, and distance of the contactor from a rigid support. It was found that each of these parameters affects the threshold in a different way. In the frequency range between 25 and 640 cps, the absolute threshold as a function of frequency yields a U‐shaped curve that reaches a maximum of sensitivity in the region of 250 cps. The effect of the geometric parameters appears to be highly complex.
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TL;DR: This paper combines two experimental of the first importance for sensory neurophysdesigns which differ remarkably in method, iology, for they establish the dynamic and in their historical and conceptual derange required of the input on the afferent side of the system to account for the output-the measured sensory capacities.
Abstract: IT WAS OUR PURPOSE in the studies described in the intact, behaving organism are therefore this paper to combine two experimental of the first importance for sensory neurophysdesigns which differ remarkably in method, iology, for they establish: 7) the dynamic and in their historical and conceptual derange required of the input on the afferent side of the system to account for the output-the measured sensory capacities; 2) the information about the stimulus which must be preserved in the initial encoding to account for the over-all information transmitting capacity of the nervous system in a particular sensory sphere; and 3) a basis for determining which of the many codes available to the pulse-operated input sys tern may be of functional significance in the sensory performance measured. It is thought that a continued correlation of the results of these two types of studies will set the limits and establish some of the parameters to be expected of that higher order neural mechanism intervening between initial cortical display and sensory experience, referred to above. mechanisms (30). Electrophysiological studies, particularly with the method of singleunit analysis, can now provide precise measures of the neural encoding in first-order nerve fibers of the parameters of peripheral stimuli, and of the successive relay and transformation of that neural replication from periphery to cerebral cortex. They have so far provided little understanding of those cerebral mechanisms which, operating upon the transformed replication of the peripheral event in the primary receiving areas of the cerebral cortex, are thought to lead to subjective sensory experience and its overt behavioral counterparts. Psychophysical studies, on the other hand, seek to establish Ideally, the two types of observation should be made in the same organism at the same lawful relations between those experiences time. Given the demands of the single-unit and certain physical aspects of the stimuli method when applied in its quantitative which evoke them. The results of these quantiform, and particularly the desired level of tative measures of the sensory performance of control of stimulus parameters, this is not vet possible for somesthesis. For the present Received for publication August 24, 1967. l This study was supported by Public Health &e Ahave made the assumption thai what Service Grants NB-1045 and NB-06828, Air Force monkeys and humans feel with their hands Contract no. 49 (638) 1305. is in principle the same, and that neuro2 Visiting Lecturer in Physiology, 1966, from the physiological observations made in the one School of Physiology, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia. may with some validity be correlated with 3 Foreign Fellow of the Public Health Service, psychophysical measures in the other, given 1965-1966, from the University of Freiburg im Breisa precise identity of experimental design in gau, Germany. the two cases.
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TL;DR: It is concluded that the four channels work in conjunction at threshold to create an operating range for the perception of vibration that extends from at least 0.4 to greater than 500 Hz and may be determined by the combined inputs from four channels.
Abstract: Although previous physiological and anatomical experiments have identified four afferent fiber types (PC, RA, SA II, and SA I) in glabrous (nonhairy) skin of the human somatosensory periphery, only three have been shown to mediate tactile (mechanoreceptive) sensation. Psychophysical evidence that four channels (P, NP I, NP II, and NP III) do, indeed, participate in the perceptual process is presented. In a series of experiments involving selective masking of the various channels, modification of the skin‐surface temperature, and testing cutaneous sensitivity down to very low‐vibratory frequencies, the fourth psychophysical channel (NP III) is defined. Based on these experiments and previous work from our laboratory, it is concluded that the four channels work in conjunction at threshold to create an operating range for the perception of vibration that extends from at least 0.4 to greater than 500 Hz. Each of the four channels appears to mediate specific portions of the overall threshold‐frequency characteristic. Selection of appropriate neural‐response criteria from previously published physiological data and correlation of their derived frequency characteristics with the four psychophysical channels indicates that each channel has its own physiological substrate: P channel and PC fibers, NP I channel and RA fibers, NP II channel and SA II fibers, and NP III channel and SA I fibers. These channels partially overlap in their absolute sensitivities, making it likely that suprathreshold stimuli may activate two or more of the channels at the same time. Thus the perceptual qualities of touch may be determined by the combined inputs from four channels.
885 citations
TL;DR: The observed improvement in task-sharing performance indicates that the introduction of tactile feedback is a promising avenue toward better supporting humanmachine communication in event-driven, information-rich domains.
Abstract: Observed breakdowns in human-machine communication can be explained, in part, by the nature of current automation feedback, which relies heavily on focal visual attention. Such feedback is not well suited for capturing attention in case of unexpected changes and events or for supporting the parallel processing of large amounts of data in complex domains. As suggested by multiple-resource theory, one possible solution to this problem is to distribute information across various sensory modalities. A simulator study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of visual, tactile, and redundant visual and tactile cues for indicating unexpected changes in the status of an automated cockpit system. Both tactile conditions resulted in higher detection rates for, and faster response times to, uncommanded mode transitions. Tactile feedback did not interfere with, nor was its effectiveness affected by, the performance of concurrent visual tasks. The observed improvement in task-sharing performance indicates that the introduction of tactile feedback is a promising avenue toward better supporting human-machine communication in event-driven, information-rich domains.
267 citations
Cites methods from "Investigation of Some Parameters of..."
...The type of signal was chosen based on recommendations published on tactile perception (e.g., Verrillo, 1962) and based on pilot studies (Nikolic, Sklar, & Sarter, 1998)....
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TL;DR: Data from both the psychophysical and the neurophysiological studies suggest that detection performance at frequencies >20 Hz was based on activity in Pacinian afferents, and the extreme sensitivity compared with previous reports may have resulted from differences in contact area, direction of vibration, contact force, andThe shape of the stimulus probe.
Abstract: Detection of vibration transmitted through an object grasped in the hand. A tool or probe often functions as an extension of the hand, transmitting vibrations to the hand to produce a percept of th...
242 citations
Cites background or result from "Investigation of Some Parameters of..."
...Because the forces that we and others (Lamore and Keemink 1988; Verrillo 1962) have used in psychophysical experiments by 10.220.33.5 on N ovem ber 2, 2016 http://jn.physiology.org/ D ow nloaded from are two to three orders of magnitude lower than forces that may occur in manual tasks, extending…...
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...Our report that a 20-fold change in contact force from 0.05 to 1 N had no detectable effect on threshold is at odds with previous reports of the effect of force over the same force range (Craig and Sherrick 1969; Lamore and Keemink 1988; Verrillo 1962)....
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232 citations
Cites background from "Investigation of Some Parameters of..."
...Nominally, PCs are responsible for threshold sensations in the 40-1000 Hz range (Verrillo, 1962; Talbot et ai., 1968) and it is this span of vibrations to which we are most sensitive....
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