The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Spatial and temporal codes mediate the tactile perception of natural textures
Open accessAbstract
When we run our fingers over the surface of an object, we acquire information about its microgeometry and material properties. Texture information is widely believed to be conveyed in spatial patterns of activation evoked across one of three populations of cutaneous mechanoreceptive afferents that innervate the fingertips. Here, we record the responses evoked in individual cutaneous afferents in Rhesus macaques as we scan a diverse set of natural textures across their fingertips using a custom-made rotating drum stimulator. We show that a spatial mechanism can only account for the processing of coarse textures. Information about most natural textures, however, is conveyed through precise temporal spiking patterns in afferent responses, driven by high-frequency skin vibrations elicited during scanning. Furthermore, these texture-specific spiking patterns predictably dilate or contract in time with changes in scanning speed; the systematic effect of speed on neuronal activity suggests that it can be reversed to achieve perceptual constancy across speeds. The proposed temporal coding mechanism involves converting the fine spatial structure of the surface into a temporal spiking pattern, shaped in part by the mechanical properties of the skin, and ascribes an additional function to vibration-sensitive mechanoreceptive afferents. This temporal mechanism complements the spatial one and greatly extends the range of tangible textures. We show that a combination of spatial and temporal mechanisms, mediated by all three populations of afferents, accounts for perceptual judgments of texture.
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“These skin oscillations in turn evoke highly patterned and repeatable temporal spiking patterns in PC and to some extent RA fibers, and these millisecond precision spiking patterns convey information about textural features too fine to be encoded spatially (Weber et al., 2013).”
From Biomimetic approaches to bionic touch through a peripheral nerve interface (2015) · cites this paper as Weber et al., 2013
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Metadata
- Authors
- Weber, A. I., Saal, H. P., Lieber, J. D., Cheng, J.-W., Manfredi, L. R., Dammann, J. F., & Bensmaia, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and
- University of Chicago (US)
- Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (TW)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2013-09-30
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 42
- Pages
- 17107-17112
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3800989
- OpenAlex
- W2147698153
- Cited by
- 421
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 10.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- tactile texture perception, cutaneous mechanoreceptors, temporal coding, spatial coding, skin vibration, scanning speed, perceptual constancy, natural textures, rhesus monkeys, skin biomechanics
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Animals, Female, Fingers, Humans, Macaca mulatta, Male, Synaptic Transmission, Skin, Surface Properties, Vibration, Touch Perception
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