Tactile perception of direction in relation to hemispheric locus of lesion

doi:10.1016/0028-3932(71)90065-0

Neuropsychologia

Volume 9, Issue 1, March 1971, Pages 83-88

https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(71)90065-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

The performances of patients with lesions of the right or the left hemisphere on a task involving the perception of the direction of tactile stimulation applied to the palms of the hands were compared with each other and with those of patients without cerebral disease. The results confirmed earlier findings of bilateral impairment in this function in a noteworthy proportion of patients with lesions of the right hemisphere. Patients with lesions of the left hemisphere showed significant impairment only in the right hand. Within the left hemisphere group, aphasic and non-aphasic patients did not differ with respect to level or pattern of performance. The results are interpreted as supporting the conclusion that the right hemisphere plays a distinctively important role in mediating spatial perception in the tactile as well as in the visual and auditory modalities.

Zusammenfassung

On a comparé, ainsi qu'avec celles d'un groupe de contrôle, les performances des malades atteints de lésion de l'hemisphére droit ou gauche dans une épreuve impliquant la perception de la direction de la stimulation tactile appliquée sur la paume des mains.

Les résultats ont confirmé la constatation antérieurement faite qu'il existe un trouble bilatéral de cette fonction dans une proportion notable des sujets avec lésion hémisphérique droite; les malades avec lésion de l'hemisphére gauche ne montraient de déficit significatif qu'au niveau de la main droite. Dans le groupe des lésions gauches, on ne constate pas de différence quant au niveau ou au type de performance, que les sujets soient aphasiques ou non. On a considéréque ces résultats représentent des arguments en faveur du rôle particuliérement important joué par l'hémisphère droit dans la perception spatiale, aussi bien selon la modalité tactile que selon les modalités visuelle et auditive.

Die Leistung von Patienten mit Hirnschaedigung in der rechten oder der linken Hirnhemisphaere bei Aufgaben, in deren die Richtung eines taktilen Stimulus in der Handinnenflaeche wahrngenommen werden muss, wurde mit der Leistung von Patienten ohne Hirnschaedigung verglichen. Die Ergebnisse bestaetigten fruehere Befunde, naemlich, dass bei einem groesseren Teil der Patienten mit Schaedigung der rechten Hemisphere eine beidseitige Stoerung dieser Leistung auftritt. Patienten mit Schaedigung der linken Hemisphaere zeigten nur in der rechten Hand wesentliche Fehlleistungen. Innerhalb der Gruppe mit linksseitiger Schaedigung fand sich kein Unterschied in der Fehlerzahl oder der Art der Fehlleistung zwischen Patienten mit oder ohne Aphasie. Die Ergebnisse wurden als Beleg fuer die Folgerung interpretiert, dass die rechte Hirnhemisphaere eine hervorstechende Bedeutung als Mediator der Raumwahrnehmung in der taktilen sowohl wie der visuellen und auditiven Wahrnehmung spielt.

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When infants (4 to 6 months of age) are given a cylinder to explore, the left hand spends more time than the right hand touching the object, which was suggested as a left-hand advantage for haptic processing (Morange-Majoux, 2011). Patient studies show that individuals with right- but not left-hemisphere damage show bilateral impairment on tactile tasks, attributing the findings to a left-hand/right-hemisphere advantage for haptic processing (Cannon & Benton, 1969; Fontenot & Benton, 1971; Milner & Taylor, 1972; Zaidel & Sperry, 1973). Together this evidence suggests that the right hemisphere plays a pivotal role in haptic processing.
Studies have shown that individuals exhibit a right-hand preference for grasping during visually-guided tasks. Recently, we have found that when vision is occluded right-hand preference decreases dramatically. It remains unknown however, if this decrease is a result of visual occlusion or the effects of relying only on haptic feedback. Therefore, in the present study, we sought to explore the contributions of vision and haptics (separately and in conjunction) to hand preference for grasping. Right- and left-handed individuals were tested on a block building task under four different visual and haptic conditions: 1) vision/normal haptic feedback (V/H), 2) no vision/normal haptic feedback (NV/H), 3) vision/constrained haptic feedback (V/Constrained-H), and 4) no vision/constrained haptic feedback (NV/Constrained-H). Vision was occluded using a blindfold and haptic feedback was constrained by asking participants to wear textured gloves. Right-handed individuals displayed a right-hand preference when vision was available (V/H and V/Constrained-H groups), but this preference was much greater when haptic feedback was constrained (V/Constrained-H group). When vision was occluded and haptic feedback was used to complete the task (NV/H) no hand preference was found. Finally hand preference was similar between the V/H and the NV/Constrained-H groups. For left-handed individuals, no differences in hand use were found between the different sensory groups, but the NV/H group showed a clear left-hand preference for haptically-guided grasping. The results suggest that haptics plays an important role in hand preference for grasping. Furthermore, they support a left-hand/right-hemisphere specialization for haptically-guided grasping (regardless of handedness) and a right-hand/left-hemisphere specialization for visually-guided grasping (at least in right-handed individuals).
Effects of temporomandibular joint sensory deprivation on cerebral activity during clenching
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The parietal association cortex receives input from cerebral sensory areas and thalamus and integrates and interprets sensory information about the size and shape of objects [24]. A previous paper on the activation area of the cerebral cortex regarding stereognosis reported a right hemispheric dominance [25,26]. The left parietal association cortex was activated during left TMJ sensory deprivation, in a pattern similar to that observed during non-anesthesia trials.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sensory deprivation of the temporomandibular joint on cerebral activity during clenching.
The subjects comprised 4 healthy volunteers without temporomandibular joint disorder. First, functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were obtained during clenching without anesthesia using a 1.5-T clinical scanner. Next, Lidocaine (2 ml) was injected into the left superior temporomandibular joint cavity for sensory deprivation, and images during clenching were obtained. Additionally, sensory deprivation of the right temporomandibular joint was performed and images were obtained in the same manner. Statistical parametric mapping software was used for image processing and statistical analysis of the fMRI data.
Analysis results on clenching without local anesthesia revealed cerebral activation in bilateral sensory, motor, and premotor areas, the sensory association and prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and left parietal association cortex. Bilateral parietal association cortices were activated on sensory deprivation of the bilateral temporomandibular joint. There was no activation of the bilateral limbic system with sensory deprivation of the left or bilateral temporomandibular joint during clenching.
These results suggest that sensory input from the temporomandibular joint cavity during clenching is closely related to the activated state of the brain.
Bilateral hand representations in human primary proprioceptive areas
2011, Neuropsychologia
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Corkin et al. (1970) have reported ipsilateral somatosensory deficits in patients with lesions of the postcentral gyrus. Several studies have shown more somatosensory errors in patients with right cerebral lesions compared to patients with left hemisphere lesions and significantly greater ipsilateral deficits after right cerebral damage (Boll, 1973; Corkin et al., 1970; Fontenot & Benton, 1971). Brasil-Neto and de Lima (2008) reported a decreased sensitivity to moving tactile stimuli at the ipsilateral hand for the first time also in chronic stroke patients (Brasil-Neto & de Lima, 2008).
Sensory representations in the postcentral gyrus are supposed to be strictly lateralised and to provide spatially unbiased representations of limb positions. However, electrophysiological and behavioural measurements in humans and non-human primates tentatively suggested some degree of bilateral processing even in early somatosensory areas. We report a patient who suffered a small and confined lesion of the hand area in the postcentral gyrus that resulted in a proprioceptive deficit without any concomitant primary motor impairment. We performed a finger position-matching task with target locations being defined proprioceptively. Without visual feedback of either hand, the patient demonstrated a significant leftward shift of perceived locations when reaching with the ipsilesional right hand to her contralesional left hand and an opposite rightward shift when reaching with the left hand to the position of the right hand. Although these directional errors improved when vision of the active hand was allowed, errors were still significantly larger than those of age-matched healthy controls with unconstrained view of the active contralesional hand. Reaching to visual targets without visual online feedback the patient revealed comparable errors with both hands. Reaching to visual targets with full visual feedback, she was as accurate as controls with either hand. In summary, our data demonstrate an effect of the right postcentral lesion on proprioceptive information processing for both hands. The results suggest an integration of contralateral and ipsilateral proprioceptive information already at this early processing stage possibly mediated by callosal connections.
The tickly homunculus and the origins of spontaneous sensations arising on the hands
2011, Consciousness and Cognition
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The literature on the lateralization of tactile perception is quite confusing. Several findings in healthy volunteers (Cohen & Levy, 1988; Ernest, 1998; Fogliani, Fogliani-Massina, Barletta, & Caruso, 1982; Weinstein & Sersen, 1961; Yamamoto, 1982; Yamamoto & Hatta, 1980) and brain-damaged patients (Boll, 1974; Fontenot & Benton, 1971; Sterzi et al., 1993) suggest right hemisphere superiority in right-handers, and yet meta-analyses failed to establish this clearly (Summers & Lederman, 1990). Interestingly, most studies in which a left hand/right hemisphere superiority was found for tactile processing involved spatial aspects, thus leaving open the question of whether the lateralized patterns reflected tactile or spatial processes.
Everyone has felt those tingling, tickly sensations occurring spontaneously all over the body in the absence of stimuli. But does anyone know where they come from? Here, right-handed subjects were asked to focus on one hand while looking at it (convergent focusing) and while looking away (divergent focusing) and subsequently to map and describe the spatial and qualitative attributes of sensations arising spontaneously. The spatial distribution of spontaneous sensations followed a proximo-distal gradient, similar to the one previously described for the density of receptive units. The intensity and spatial extent of the reported sensations were modulated by the focusing condition, especially in respect of the left hand. Convergent focusing acted upon the conscious perception of sensations by enhancing or suppressing them. To our knowledge, this is the first ever study of spontaneous sensations, and it offers considerable insight into their sources. The presence of the proximo-distal distributional gradient is a clear sign that receptive units are involved. The enhancement/suppression effects also confirm the involvement of attention. Finally, left-hand dominance suggests several right-hemisphere processes may be involved, such as spatial and tactile perception, and probably interoception.
Tactile functions after cerebral hemispherectomy
2005, Neuropsychologia
Patients that were hemispherectomized due to brain lesions early in life sometimes have remarkably well-preserved tactile functions on their paretic body half. This has been attributed to developmental neuroplasticity. However, the tactile examinations generally have been fairly crude, and subtle deficits may not have been revealed. We investigated monofilament detection and three types of tactile directional sensibility in four hemispherectomized patients and six healthy controls. Patients were examined bilaterally on the face, forearm and lower leg. Normal subjects were examined unilaterally. Following each test of directional sensibility, subjects were asked to rate the intensity of the stimulation. On the nonparetic side, results were almost always in the normal range. On the paretic side, the patients’ capacity for monofilament detection was less impaired than their directional sensibility. Despite the disturbed directional sensibility on their paretic side the patients rated tactile sensations evoked by the stimuli, on both their paretic and nonparetic body halves, as more intense than normals. Thus, mechanisms of plasticity seem adequate for tactile detection and intensity coding but not for more complex tactile functions such as directional sensibility. The reason for the high vulnerability of tactile directional sensibility may be that it depends on spatially and temporally precise afferent information processed in a distributed cortical network.
Gender difference in premotor activity during active tactile discrimination
2000, NeuroImage
To investigate possible gender differences in tactile discrimination tasks, we measured cerebral blood flow of seven men and seven women using positron emission tomography and ¹⁵O water during tactile tasks performed with the right index finger. A nondiscrimination, somatosensory control task activated the left primary sensorimotor cortex and the left parietal operculum extending to the posterior insula without any gender difference. Compared with the control task, discrimination tasks activated the superior and inferior parietal lobules bilaterally, right dorsal premotor cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in both genders, consistent with the notion of right hemisphere involvement during exploratory attentional movements. In both genders, symmetric activation of the superior and inferior parietal lobules and asymmetric activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were confirmed. The former is consistent with the spatial representation of the tactile input and the latter with the spatial working memory. However, activation of the dorsal premotor cortex was asymmetric in men, whereas it was symmetric in women, the gender difference being statistically significant. This may suggest gender differences in motor programs for exploration in manipulospatial tasks such as tactile discrimination with active touch, possibly by greater interhemispheric interaction through the dorsal premotor cortices in women than in men.

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^☆: This investigation was supported by Research Grant NS-00616 and Program-Project Grant NS-03354 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. Neurosensory Center Publication No. 205.

^†: Neurobehavioral Studies Program Fellow under Research Training Grant MH-10641.

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Tactile perception of direction in relation to hemispheric locus of lesion☆

Abstract

Zusammenfassung

Cortex

Tactile perception of direction and number in patients with unilateral cerebral disease

Neurology