Reuter Eva-Maria, Voelcker-Rehage Claudia, Vieluf Solveig, Winneke Axel H, Godde Ben
Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs Universtiy Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, Germany.
Atten Percept Psychophys. 2014 May;76(4):1160-75. doi: 10.3758/s13414-014-0634-2.
Tactile expertise, resulting from extensive use of hands, has previously been shown to improve tactile perception in blind people and musicians and to be associated with changes in the central processing of tactile information. This study investigated whether expertise, due to precise and deliberate use of the fingers at work, relates to improved tactile perception and whether this expertise interacts with age. A tactile pattern and a frequency discrimination task were conducted while ERPs were measured in experts and nonexperts of two age groups within middle adulthood. Independently of age, accuracy was better in experts than in nonexperts in both tasks. Somatosensory N70 amplitudes were larger with increasing age and for experts than for nonexperts. P100 amplitudes were smaller in experts than in nonexperts in the frequency discrimination task. In the pattern discrimination task, P300 difference wave amplitude was reduced in experts and late middle-aged adults. In the frequency discrimination task, P300 was more equally distributed in late middle-aged adults. We conclude that extensive, dexterous manual work leads to acquisition of tactile expertise and that this expertise might delay, but not counteract, age effects on tactile perception. Comparable neurophysiological changes induced by age and expertise presumably have different underlying mechanisms. Enlarged somatosensory N70 amplitudes might result from reduced inhibition in older adults but from enhanced, specific excitability of the somatosensory cortex in experts. Regarding P300, smaller amplitudes might indicate fewer available resources in older adults and, by contrast, a reduced need to engage as much cognitive effort to the task in experts.
先前的研究表明，因大量使用双手而产生的触觉专长能够改善盲人及音乐家的触觉感知，并与触觉信息的中枢处理变化相关。本研究调查了由于工作中对手指的精确且刻意使用而形成的专长是否与触觉感知的改善有关，以及这种专长是否与年龄相互作用。在对中年期两个年龄组的专家和非专家进行事件相关电位（ERP）测量的同时，开展了一项触觉模式和一项频率辨别任务。在两项任务中，无论年龄如何，专家的准确性均高于非专家。体感N70波幅随着年龄增长而增大，且专家的波幅大于非专家。在频率辨别任务中，专家的P100波幅小于非专家。在模式辨别任务中，专家和中年后期成年人的P300差异波幅降低。在频率辨别任务中，P300在中年后期成年人中的分布更为均匀。我们得出结论，广泛、灵活的体力劳动会导致触觉专长的获得，并且这种专长可能会延缓但不会抵消年龄对触觉感知的影响。年龄和专长引起的类似神经生理变化可能具有不同的潜在机制。体感N70波幅增大可能是由于老年人抑制作用减弱，但专家的体感皮层特定兴奋性增强。关于P300，较小的波幅可能表明老年人可用资源较少，相比之下，专家在执行任务时需要投入的认知努力较少。
