Hollins M, Bensmaïa S J, Roy E A
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Behav Brain Res. 2002 Sep 20;135(1-2):51-6. doi: 10.1016/s0166-4328(02)00154-7.
Several recent studies support Katz's hypothesis that vibrotaction plays a role in the perception of tactile textures with elements too small and closely spaced to be processed spatially. For example, eliminating vibration by preventing movement of a stimulus surface across the skin compromises psychophysical scaling and discrimination of fine, but not coarse, textures. Fine-texture discrimination is also impaired when vibrotactile channels are desensitized by adaptation. A role for vibrotaction in texture perception is plausible, given the keenness of this submodality: the sensory qualities produced by a sinusoidal vibration uniquely specify its frequency and amplitude, and subjects can distinguish some complex vibrations that differ in waveform but have the same spectral components. Finally, imposed vibration can modify the perceived texture of a haptically-examined surface. Taken together, these lines of evidence support the view that vibrotaction is both necessary and sufficient for the perception of fine tactile textures.
最近的几项研究支持了卡茨的假设，即振动觉在触觉纹理感知中发挥作用，这些触觉纹理的元素太小且间隔紧密，无法在空间上进行处理。例如，通过阻止刺激表面在皮肤上移动来消除振动，会损害心理物理学标度以及对精细纹理（而非粗糙纹理）的辨别。当通过适应使振动触觉通道脱敏时，精细纹理辨别也会受损。鉴于这种亚模态的敏锐性，振动觉在纹理感知中发挥作用是合理的：正弦振动产生的感官特性唯一地确定了其频率和振幅，并且受试者可以区分一些波形不同但频谱成分相同的复杂振动。最后，施加的振动可以改变通过触觉检查的表面的感知纹理。综上所述，这些证据支持了这样一种观点，即振动觉对于精细触觉纹理的感知既是必要的也是充分的。
