Abstract
Studies of tactile spatial pattern perception have, for the most part, been carried out using the fingerpad. On the basis of these studies, models have been developed linking spatial pattern identification and resolution with underlying neural structures. It has been suggested that with appropriate scaling, these models would apply to the processing of spatial patterns presented to other sites on the body. Spatial sensitivity was examined on another site on the body, the palm, using two measures, letter identification and grating orientation. The results from these measures were compared with results from similar studies conducted on the fingerpad and with estimates of the density of innervation of the fingerpad and palm. To produce levels of performance similar to those on the fingerpad required letters on the palm 50mm in height, seven to nine times larger than those used on the fingerpad. Gratings had to be six to more than seven times larger on the palm to produce the same levels of performance achieved on the fingerpad. For the two types of receptor systems sensitive to spatial information, the ratio of density of innervation between the fingerpad and the palm is estimated to be 5.7: 1 and 8.8: 1. Performance of spatial tasks on the palm can be predicted quantitatively from fingerpad data with a moderate degree of accuracy. Qualitative comparisons between the palm and fingerpad data indicate that spatial patterns are processed similarly at the two sites.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appelman, I. B., &Mayzner, M. S. (1982). Application of geometric models to letter recognition: Distance and density.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,111, 60–100.
Bolanowski, S. J., Gescheider, G. A., Verrillo, R. T., &Checkosky, C.M. (1988). Four channels mediate the mechanical aspects of touch.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,84, 1680–1694.
Craig, J. C. (1999). Grating orientation as a measure of tactile spatial acuity.Somatosensensory & Motor Research,16, 197–206.
Craig, J. C., &Johnson, K. O. (2000). The two-point threshold: Not a measure of tactile spatial resolution.Current Directions in Psychological Science,9, 29–32.
Craig, J. C., &Kisner, J. M. (1998). Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity.Somatosensensory & Motor Research,15, 29–45.
Darian-Smith, J., &Kenins, P. (1980). Innervation density of mechanoreceptive fibres supplying the glabrous skin of the monkey’s index finger.Journal of Physiology,309, 147–155.
Geldard, F. A. (1960). Some neglected possibilities of communication.Science,131, 1583–1588.
Goldstone, R. L. (1998). Perceptual learning.Annual Review of Psychology,49, 585–612.
Grant, A. C., Thiagarajah, M.C., &Sathian, K. (2000). Tactile perception in blind Braille readers: A psychophysical study of acuity and hyperacuity using gratings and dot patterns.Perception & Psychophysics,62, 301–312.
Greenspan, J. D., &Bolanowski, S. J. (1996). The psychophysics of tactile perception and its peripheral physiological basis. In L. Kruger (Ed.),Pain and touch (2nd ed., pp. 25–103). San Diego: Academic Press.
Johansson, R. S., &Vallbo, A. B. (1979). Tactile sensibility in the human hand: Relative and absolute densities of four types of mechanoreceptive units in glabrous skin.Journal of Physiology,286, 283–300.
Johnson, K. O., &Hsiao, S. S. (1992). Tactual form and texture perception.Annual Review of Neuroscience,15, 227–250.
Johnson, K. O., Hsiao, S. S., &Twombly, I. A. (1995). Neural mechanisms of tactile form recognition. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.),The cognitive neurosciences (pp. 253–267). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Johnson, K. O., &Phillips, J. R. (1981). Tactile spatial resolution: I. Two-point discrimination, gap detection, grating resolution, and letter recognition.Journal of Neurophysiology,46, 1177–1191.
Johnson, K. O., Van Boven, R. W., &Hsiao, S. S. (1994). The perception of two points is not the spatial resolution threshold. In J. Boivie, P. Hansson, & U. Lindblom (Eds.),Touch, temperature, and pain in health and disease: Mechanisms and assessments, progress in pain research and management (Vol. 3, pp. 389–404). Seattle, WA: IASP Press.
Loomis, J. M. (1981). Tactile pattern perception.Perception,10, 5–27.
Loomis, J.M. (1982). Analysis of tactile and visual confusion matrices.Perception & Psychophysics,31, 41–52.
Loomis, J. M. (1990). A model of character recognition and legibility.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 106–120.
Loomis, J. M., &Lederman, S. J. (1986). Tactual perception. In K. R. Boff, L. Kaufman, & J. P. Thomas (Eds.),Handbook of perception and human performance (pp. 1–41). New York: Wiley.
Patel, J., Essick, G.K., &Kelly, D.G. (1997). Utility of square-wave gratings to assess perioral spatial acuity.Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery,55, 593–601.
Phillips, J. R., &Johnson, K. O. (1981). Tactile spatial resolution: II. Neural representation of bars, edges, and gratings in monkey primary afferents.Journal of Neurophysiology,46, 1192–1203.
Phillips, J. R., Johnson, K. O., &Browne, H.M. (1983). A comparison of visual and two modes of tactual letter resolution.Perception & Psychophysics,34, 243–249.
Sathian, K. (1998). Perceptual learning.Current Science,75, 451–457.
Sathian, K., &Zangaladze, A. (1996). Tactile spatial acuity at the human fingertip and lip: Bilateral symmetry and interdigit variability.Neurology,46, 1464–1466.
Sathian, K., Zangaladze, A., Green, J., Vitek, J. L., &DeLong, M. R. (1997). Tactile spatial acuity and roughness discrimination: Impairments due to aging and Parkinson’s disease.Neurology,49, 168–177.
Van Boven, R.W., &Johnson, K. O. (1994a). The limit of tactile spatial resolution in humans: Grating orientation discrimination at the lip, tongue, and finger.Neurology,44, 2361–2366.
Van Boven, R.W., &Johnson, K.O. (1994b). A psychophysical study of the mechanisms of sensory recovery following nerve injury in humans.Brain,117, 149–167.
Vega-Bermudez, F., Johnson, K. O., &Hsiao, S. S. (1991). Human tactile pattern recognition: Active versus passive touch, velocity effects, and patterns of confusion.Journal of Neurophysiology,65, 531–546.
Weber, E. H. (1996). De tactu. In H. E. Ross & D. J. Murray (Eds. and Trans.),E. H. Weber on the tactile senses (2nd ed., p. 49). Hove, U.K.: Erlbaum. (Original work published 1834)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grant DC00095, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Craig, J.C., Lyle, K.B. A comparison of tactile spatial sensitivity on the palm and fingerpad. Perception & Psychophysics 63, 337–347 (2001). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194474
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194474