Observing touch on another person’s body activates brain regions involved in tactile perception, even when the observer’s body is not directly stimulated. Previous work has shown that in some synaesthetes, this effect induces a sensation of being touched. The present study shows that if perceptual thresholds are experimentally manipulated, viewing touch can modulate tactile experience in nonsynaesthetes as well. When observers saw a face being touched by hands, rather than a face being merely approached by hands, they demonstrated enhanced detection of subthreshold tactile stimuli on their own faces. This effect was specific to observing touch on a body part, and was not found for touch on a nonbodily stimulus, namely, a picture of a house. In addition, the effect was stronger when subjects viewed their own faces rather than another person's face. Thus, observing touch can activate the tactile system, and if perceptual thresholds are manipulated, such activation can result in a behavioral effect in nonsynaesthetes. The effect is maximum if the observed body matches the observer’s body

Viewing a face being touched enhances tactile perception on the face / Serino A.; Pizzoferrato F; Ladavas E. - STAMPA. - (2008), pp. 130-130. (Intervento presentato al convegno International Multisensory Research Forum - 9th annual meeting tenutosi a Hamburg, Germany nel 16-19 Luglio 2008).

Viewing a face being touched enhances tactile perception on the face.

SERINO, ANDREA;LADAVAS, ELISABETTA
2008

Abstract

Observing touch on another person’s body activates brain regions involved in tactile perception, even when the observer’s body is not directly stimulated. Previous work has shown that in some synaesthetes, this effect induces a sensation of being touched. The present study shows that if perceptual thresholds are experimentally manipulated, viewing touch can modulate tactile experience in nonsynaesthetes as well. When observers saw a face being touched by hands, rather than a face being merely approached by hands, they demonstrated enhanced detection of subthreshold tactile stimuli on their own faces. This effect was specific to observing touch on a body part, and was not found for touch on a nonbodily stimulus, namely, a picture of a house. In addition, the effect was stronger when subjects viewed their own faces rather than another person's face. Thus, observing touch can activate the tactile system, and if perceptual thresholds are manipulated, such activation can result in a behavioral effect in nonsynaesthetes. The effect is maximum if the observed body matches the observer’s body
2008
International Multisensory Research Forum, 9th Annual Meeting
130
130
Viewing a face being touched enhances tactile perception on the face / Serino A.; Pizzoferrato F; Ladavas E. - STAMPA. - (2008), pp. 130-130. (Intervento presentato al convegno International Multisensory Research Forum - 9th annual meeting tenutosi a Hamburg, Germany nel 16-19 Luglio 2008).
Serino A.; Pizzoferrato F; Ladavas E
File in questo prodotto:
Eventuali allegati, non sono esposti

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/69382
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact