Sound enhances touch perception

Certain sounds, such as fingernails screeching down a chalkboard, have a strong association with somatosensory percepts. In order to assess the influences of audition on somatosensory perception, three experiments measured how task-irrelevant auditory stimuli alter detection rates for near-threshold somatosensory stimuli. In Experiment 1, we showed that a simultaneous auditory stimulus increases sensitivity, but not response biases, to the detection of an electrical cutaneous stimulus delivered to the hand. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this enhancement of somatosensory perception is spatially specific—only monaural sounds on the same side increased detection. Experiment 3 revealed that the effects of audition on touch are also frequency dependent—only sounds with the same frequency as the vibrotactile frequency enhanced tactile detection. These results indicate that auditory information influences touch perception in highly systematic ways and suggest that similar coding mechanisms may underlie the processing of information from these different sensory modalities.     

Enhanced sensory perception in synaesthesia

Previous findings imply that synaesthetic experience may have consequences for sensory processing of stimuli that do not themselves trigger synaesthesia. For example, synaesthetes who experience colour show enhanced perceptual processing of colour compared to non-synaesthetes. This study aimed to investigate whether enhanced perceptual processing was a core property of synaesthesia by contrasting tactile and colour sensitivity in synaesthetes who experience either colour, touch, or both touch and colour as evoked sensations. For comparison the performance of non-synaesthetic control subjects was also assessed. There was a relationship between the modality of synaesthetic experience and the modality of sensory enhancement. Synaesthetes who experience colour have enhanced colour sensitivity and synaesthetes who experience touch have enhanced tactile sensitivity. These findings suggest the possibility that a hyper-sensitive concurrent perceptual system is a general property of synaesthesia and are discussed in relation to theories of the condition.     

Spatial attention affects the processing of tactile and visual stimuli presented at the tip of a tool: an event-related potential study

An event-related potential (ERP) experiment was conducted in order to investigate the nature of any cross-modal links in spatial attention during tool use. Tactile stimuli were delivered from the tip of two sticks, held in either a crossed or an uncrossed tools posture, while visual stimuli were presented along the length of each tool. Participants had to detect tactile deviant stimuli at the end of one stick while trying to ignore all other stimuli. Reliable ERP spatial attention effects to tactile stimuli were observed at early (160–180 ms) and later time epochs (>350 ms) when the tools were uncrossed. Reliable ERP attention effects to visual stimuli presented close to the tip of the tool and close to the hand were also observed in the uncrossed tools condition (time epoch 140–180 ms). These results are consistent with the claim that tool-use results in a shift of visuospatial attention toward the tip of the tool and also to attention being focused by the hand where the touch is felt.     

天然牙触觉阈限的测量及临床意义

目的 检测天然牙6个正交方向的被动触觉阈限,分析其影响因素,以指导临床个性化调(牙合).方法 利用牙齿触觉功能数字测试系统,测试20名健康受试者(平均年龄25岁,男女各10名)的218颗天然牙(上下颌中切牙至第一磨牙)的6个正交方向(即唇或颊、舌、近中、远中4个水平方向,根方和冠方2个轴向)的被动触觉阈限,利用多水平模型(multilevel modeling,MLM)分析被动触觉阈限的影响因素.结果 前牙、前磨牙和磨牙被动触觉阈限的中位数(四分位数间距)分别为16(18)、38(57)和105(115)mN,MLM分析显示,受试者间天然牙被动触觉阈限的个体差异明显(P＜0.05),受牙列分区、性别和受力方向3个因素的影响(P＜0.01),其影响作用的大小依次递减.结论 天然牙具有灵敏的触觉功能,被动触觉阈限能达到10 mN的水平,被动触觉阈限存在个体差异,受牙列分区、性别和受力方向的影响.     

抚触联合金双歧治疗母乳性黄疸的疗效观察

目的观察抚触联合金双歧治疗母乳性黄疸的疗效。方法124例母乳性黄疸随机分组,对照组给予菌栀黄口服液及酶诱导剂口服,治疗组给予金双歧口服及抚触护理。结果治疗组与对照组在治疗黄疸消退方面的疗效无显著差异,在体重增长方面有显著差异。结论金双歧口服联合抚触护理治疗母乳性黄疸,安全有效,除能明显降低血清胆红素水平,缩短治疗时间外,尚能促进生长发育,值得推广使用。     

Touch or pain? Spatio-temporal patterns of cortical fMRI activity following brief mechanical stimuli

Most imaging studies on the human pain system have concentrated so far on the spatial distribution of pain-related activity. In the present study, we investigated similarities and differences between the spatial and temporal patterns of brain activity related to touch vs. pain perception. To this end, we adopted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm allowing us to separately assess the activity related to stimulus anticipation, perception, and coding. The fMRI signal increases following brief mechanical noxious or non-noxious stimulation of the hand dorsum were largely overlapping in the contralateral and ipsilateral hemispheres, including portions of the parietal, insular, frontal and cingulate cortices. Higher activity following noxious stimulation was found in the contralateral mid-anterior insular cortex, in the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) and in the adjacent dorso-medial frontal cortex. Significant decreases in fMRI signals following both tactile and painful stimuli were found in perigenual cingulate (pACC)/medial prefrontal cortex (MPF) and in the posterior cingulate/precuneus/paracentral lobule; more intense decreases were found in the pACC/MPF following painful stimuli. fMRI signal increases in the contralateral insula and in aMCC, but not in the parietal cortex, were more prolonged following painful than tactile stimuli. Moreover, a second peak of signal increases (albeit of lower intensity) was found in anterior insula and aMCC during pain intensity rating. These results show specific spatio-temporal patterns of cortical activity related to processing noxious vs. non-noxious mechanical stimuli.     

抚触对早产儿消化系统影响的观察与分析

目的探讨婴儿抚触对早产儿消化系统及体重增长的影响。方法采用国际通用抚触法，对抚触组（50例）早产儿进行抚触，并随机选择条件相似的对照组（50例）早产儿做对照观察。抚触组早产儿病情稳定，不需吸氧，开始进食后进行抚触，持续15d，每次15min，每天2次。对照组除不进行抚触外，各种综合护理措施与抚触组相同。15d后观察抚触组早产儿体重与对照组差异，同时观察抚触后的摄入奶量、呕吐、胎粪排泄、体重增长情况。结果抚触组早产儿体重平均增加量比对照组明显增加（p〈0.05），奶量增加显著（第Ⅱ、第Ⅲ阶段分别p〈0.05及p〈0.01），排清胎粪天数明显缩短（p〈0.01）。结论通过对早产儿抚触可促进消化道功能正常反应和体重增加，有利于早产儿的生长发育。     

2013版BI-RADS分类标准结合声触诊组织量化技术鉴别诊断乳腺良恶性病灶的价值

目的 探讨2013版超声乳腺影像报告和数据系统(BI-RADS)分类诊断标准结合声触诊组织量化技术(VTQ)鉴别乳腺良恶性病灶的价值。方法 对251位患者共334个乳腺病灶行常规超声检查,并用BI-RADS分类诊断标准判断其良恶性;然后应用VTQ技术测量病灶的剪切波速度(SWV);以病理结果作为金标准,构建受试者的工作特征曲线,比较两种方法的诊断价值。结果 BI-RADS分类诊断标准及VTQ技术鉴别乳腺良恶性病灶的ROC曲线下面积分别为0.899、0.855,两者差异无统计学意义(z=1.367,P=0.172)。结论 BI-RADS分类诊断标准与VTQ技术结合可以提高乳腺病灶的诊断准确性。对于BI-RADS 4类的病灶,联合VTQ技术可减少不必要的穿刺活检或手术。     

Reflexive spatial orienting of tactile attention

We investigated the covert reflexive (exogenous) orienting of tactile spatial attention. Participants made speeded discrimination responses (up vs down) to a series of tactile targets presented randomly to the index finger or thumb of either hand. These targets were preceded at a variable stimulus onset asynchrony (200, 300, or 400 ms) by a spatially nonpredictive tactile cue (presented to both finger and thumb of one or other hand) on either the same or opposite side as the target. Tactile elevation discrimination responses were more rapid and accurate when the cue and target appeared on the same side than when they appeared on opposite sides. Our results provide the first direct empirical evidence that tactile spatial attention can be reflexively directed toward peripheral tactile cues leading to the facilitation of subsequent responses to stimuli presented at that body site.     

Sensitive DIP-STR markers for the analysis of unbalanced mixtures from “touch” DNA samples

Casework samples collected for forensic DNA analysis can produce genomic mixtures in which the DNA of the alleged offender is masked by high quantities of DNA coming from the victim. DIP-STRs are novel genetic markers specifically developed to enable the target analysis of a DNA of interest in the presence of exceeding quantities of a second DNA (up to 1000-fold). The genotyping system, which is based on allele-specific amplifications of haplotypes formed by a deletion/insertion polymorphism (DIP) and a short tandem repeat (STR), combines the capacity of targeting the DNA of an individual with a strong identification power. Finally, DIP-STRs are autosomal markers therefore they can be applied to any combination of major and minor DNA.In this study we aimed to assess the ability of DIP-STRs to detect the minor contributor on challenging “touch” DNA samples simulated with representative crime-associated substrates and to compare their performance to commonly used male-specific markers (Y-STRs). As part of a comprehensive study on the relative DNA contribution of two persons handling the same object, we selected 71 unbalanced contact traces of which 14 comprised a male minor DNA contributor mixed to a female major DNA contributor. Using a set of six DIP-STRs, one to four markers were found to be informative for the minor DNA detection across traces. When compared to Y-STRs (14 traces), the DIP-STRs showed similar sensitivity in detecting the minor DNA across substrate materials with a similar occurrence of allele drop-out. Conversely, because of the sex combination of the two users of the object, 57 remaining traces could only be investigated by DIP-STRs. Of these, 30 minor DNA contributors could be detected by all informative markers while 12 traces showed events of allele drop-out. Finally, 15 traces showed no amplification of the minor DNA. These last 15 samples were mostly characterized by a combination of short handling time of the object, low DNA recovery and/or one single informative DIP-STR.In conclusion, the DIP-STRs represent alternative markers to help solving unbalanced two-source DNA mixtures, and also those produced from contact stains. These markers, in addition to a novel set of 10 DIP-STRs specifically developed according to forensic technical standards, will offer a valuable tool complementary to Y-STR markers.