Open AccessMultisensory effects on somatosensation: a trimodal visuo-vestibular-tactile interaction
Author(s) -
Mariia Kaliuzhna,
Elisa Raffaella Ferrè,
Bruno Herbelin,
Olaf Blanke,
Patrick Haggard
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep26301
Subject(s) - percept , vestibular system , multisensory integration , somatosensory system , crossmodal , stimulus modality , sensory system , sensation , perception , audiology , motion (physics) , psychology , computer science , visual perception , neuroscience , computer vision , medicine
Vestibular information about self-motion is combined with other sensory signals. Previous research described both visuo-vestibular and vestibular-tactile bilateral interactions, but the simultaneous interaction between all three sensory modalities has not been explored. Here we exploit a previously reported visuo-vestibular integration to investigate multisensory effects on tactile sensitivity in humans. Tactile sensitivity was measured during passive whole body rotations alone or in conjunction with optic flow, creating either purely vestibular or visuo-vestibular sensations of self-motion. Our results demonstrate that tactile sensitivity is modulated by perceived self-motion, as provided by a combined visuo-vestibular percept, and not by the visual and vestibular cues independently. We propose a hierarchical multisensory interaction that underpins somatosensory modulation: visual and vestibular cues are first combined to produce a multisensory self-motion percept. Somatosensory processing is then enhanced according to the degree of perceived self-motion.