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This study examines how performed depictions (Clark, 2016) animate and mobilize bodily force in enskillment. Analysis of 15 h of videotaped interaction at the potter's wheel in Japan illustrates how depictions formed through the use of touch, gestures, and onomatopoeia orient novice attention to aspects of force (e.g., source, path, intensity). The sensei's depictions can serve to initiate instruction on specific skill components, to prompt the novice's work, and to synchronize guidance with the novice's efforts—allowing forces to be analogously co-experienced (Nishizaka, 2017). Across trajectories of action, depictions resonate with earlier instantiations, but are redesigned to emphasize dimensions of force most relevant to the instructional needs of the moment. This study contributes to our understanding of action formation and ascription by illustrating how multimodal resources and the depictions they form (re)configure embodied realizations of force. • In enskillment, depictions—constructed through the use of multimodal resources such as mimetic gestures, touch, and onomatopoeia—are used to form and attain understandings of dimensions of force necessary for skilled action. • Participants carefully synchronize their talk and embodied action to enable the analogous perception of force dynamics and their interkinesthetic realizations. • Across trajectories of action, depictions of force can be (re)formulated with contingently fitted resources to meet the instructional needs of the moment. • Through embodied interaction forces privately felt are publicly shared. • Further examination of how depictions facilitate embodied understandings of the skillful use of force promises to contribute to the anthropology of the body and human sociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on instruction in manual skills training has traditionally focused on the practices for displaying understandings that are conveyed via talk or embodied demonstration. Know-how, or the understanding needed for performing a manual skill, however, is necessarily grounded in the practitioner's sensorial experience of their movements, the tools they use, and the materials they manipulate. As such, sensorial touch is essential to the learning of manual skills, and participants require means for making their sensory experience accessible to one another for coordinating instruction. Building on previous work in practical skills training, this study investigates instructional interactions in cadaveric workshops. Focusing on interactions where a) instructors demonstrate manual actions and articulate tactile experiences, b) trainees attempt to explore anatomical structures, and c) instructors evaluate those attempts, we analyse the embodied and material resources that participants use for making tactile experience accessible, assessable, and thereby instructable in interaction, and how the instruction are consequently organized in pursuing that end. • Effective instruction relies on members' methods for displaying, assessing, and ratifying understandings in interaction. • This presents challenges for manual skills training as understanding, or know-how, is predicated on sensorial experience. • Participants make use of embodied and material practices for revealing their tactile perception of the work for instruction. • These tactile practices provide members means for monitoring discrepancies in how they perceive objects, actions, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of clay modeling as an instrument for clinical analysis of the relation to one's own body and to the object. While modeling is a widely-used medium in therapeutic work, we present here the use of the modeled self-portrait as a projective method in a research situation involving sensorial mediation using touch. The aim is to understand how the subject invests and engages a relation with this object, based on the way s/he invests and represents her/his body and sensations. The modeling situation was proposed individually to 19 participants at the first of six meetings. The choice of the modeled self-portrait in this research project is inspired by a psychoanalytical epistemology that enables us to understand the unconscious psychic dimensions of body image and the relation to the object, as well as the concepts of mediation, the projective situation, and transference. In the absence of a pre-existing reference to a systematized methodology for analyzing the self-portrait with modeling clay, we referred to psychoanalytic work on projective tests to construct a qualitative analysis grid based on the material collected. The modeled self-portrait enabled us to take into consideration, from an economic, dynamic, and topical point of view, on the one hand, the content that emerged in the modeling and in the verbalizations that accompanied it, and, on the other hand, the characteristics of the modeling process itself. The modeling situation gave rise to regressive and projective movements, leading the participants to express key elements of their personal history, their sensory situation, and the areas of the body invested or disinvested, as well as their psychic behaviors in relation to the object in the present of this research encounter. We identified four ways in which participants related to modeling, depending on their subjectivity and their position in the research process. The form given to the modeling, its structure, and the parts represented or not provided us with indications of certain features of the participants' body image and the way in which they were able to express it in the space-time of this encounter. We hypothesize that through its connections with the subject's body image, the three-dimensional self-portrait expresses the way in which participants invest their bodies, and sometimes body zones linked to the senses, such as touch, through the modeling activity itself, but also other senses through the elements represented or not, verbalized or not, about the created-modeled object. We present some considerations on the complex connections between the relationship to modeling, to the object of sensory mediation through touch, and to autobiographical speech in the interview situation, considering the participants' verbal and non-verbal productions during the process of this research. Finally, we present the limits of the collection and analysis of results in the context of this research and the present article. The use of the modeled self-portrait has brought out elements that enable us to better understand the psychological underpinnings of the different relations to the mediating object that the participants expressed in this research. Insofar as self-portrait calls upon unconscious elements of both body image and relation to the object, it encounters resistance and defensive modalities in the subject's own psychic functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limit of stability (LoS), an index of stance balance ability, is reduced in older adults. Although contacting an earth-fixed external surface through fingertips' light touch improves older adults' stance balance control, its effects on the LoS in this population are unclear. Does light touch increase the LoS and reduce postural sway in the LoS? This study included 20 young adults (11 women and 9 men, mean age = 20.6 years) and 15 community-dwelling older adults (8 women and 7 men, mean age = 74.5 years). The position and path length of the center of pressure (CoP) during quiet standing (QS) and the anterior and posterior LoS (A-LoS and P-LoS, respectively) were measured using a force platform under two touch conditions (no-touch condition and light-touch condition). In light-touch condition, participants placed the tip of their dominant index finger on a load cell, which had an applied force of <1 N. In both touch conditions, the older group had a more limited CoP position in the anteroposterior LoS and a longer CoP path length in the QS and LoS than the younger group. In both participant groups, the light-touch condition showed a wider CoP position in the anteroposterior LoS and a shorter CoP path length in the QS and LoS than the no-touch condition. Light touch increases the anteroposterior LoS and decreases postural sway in the LoS. Therefore, contacting an external object by fingertips' light touch may be an effective training protocol to increase the LoS in older adults. • Fingertip light touch contact effects on limit of stability (LoS) were examined. • Anteroposterior LoS was more limited in healthy young adults than in older adults. • Light touch increased anteroposterior LoS and decreased sway in LoS in both groups. • Light touch contact may be an effective therapeutic option to increase the LoS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand function is reduced with aging which can lead to impairments in the performance of daily activities and eventually loss of independence. The ability to perceive the forces being applied to an object is an important component of hand control that also declines with age. However, the extent to which force perception can be improved through training remains largely unknown. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a home-training program focused on improving force perception in older adults. Quasi-experimental - Uncontrolled trial. Eleven independent, healthy adults (mean age: 77.2 ± 6.8 years) participated in a home-based sensorimotor hand training program 6 days/week for 6 weeks. Force perception, the primary outcome variable, was measured as the ability to reproduce a pinch force equal to 25% maximum voluntary contraction in the absence of visual feedback using either the ipsilateral remembered or contralateral concurrent (CC) hand. We also measured hand strength, dexterity, tactile acuity, and cognition before and after training. After the program was completed, participants showed a 35% reduction in absolute (p < 0.01, confidence interval (CI): [7.3, 33.2], effect sizes (ES): 0.87) and constant (p = 0.05, CI: [0.0, 34.9], ES: 0.79) force matching errors in the CC condition. Improvements in dominant hand dexterity (Purdue pegboard test) (p < 0.05, CI: [0.2, 2.4], ES: 0.60) and tactile sensitivity (JVP thresholds) (p < 0.05, CI: [−1.7, −0.1], ES: 0.94), as well as cognition (Trail Making Test B) (p < 0.05, CI: [−24,1. −1.6], ES: 0.30) were also observed post-training. The results suggest that home-hand training can be an effective way to improve force perception among older adults. • Fine hand force perception can be improved with task-based training in older adults. • Improvements in force perception can occur after 6 weeks of home-based training. • Dexterity, tactile acuity, and cognitive function also improved following training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conduction velocity of peripheral somatosensory afferents has been intimately linked to function. • Recently, the classical relation between nerve conduction and function has become blurred. • We review evidence for C fibres signalling touch and Aβ fibres signalling pain with implications for taxonomy. One hundred years ago, Erlanger and Gasser demonstrated that conduction velocity is correlated with the diameter of a peripheral nerve axon. Later, they also demonstrated that the functional role of the axon is related to its diameter: touch is signalled by large-diameter axons, whereas pain and temperature are signalled by small-diameter axons. Certain discoveries in recent decades prompt a modification of this canonical classification. Here, we review the evidence for unmyelinated (C) fibres signalling touch at a slow conduction velocity and likely contributing to affective aspects of tactile information. We also review the evidence for large-diameter Aβ afferents signalling pain at ultrafast conduction velocity and likely contributing to the rapid nociceptive withdrawal reflex. These discoveries imply that conduction velocity is not as clear-cut an indication of the functional role of the axon as previously thought. We finally suggest that a future taxonomy of the peripheral afferent nervous system might be based on the combination of the axońs molecular expression and electrophysiological response properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over time, there has been an increase in research on how to improve emotional state rehabilitation processes, and it is notable that the use of technology has had a positive result, with increasing accuracy. Serious Games (SG) for Virtual Reality (VR) are extremely beneficial in this regard, and the use of haptic devices as a tool for researchers and medical teams is increasing in popularity. The current study aims to conduct an initial investigation into the use of a haptic vest to see if haptic touch can aid in emotional conditioning, which may result in improved disease and phobia rehabilitation, and whether different interactions with virtual scenarios, such as a virtual hug, can increase immersiveness. The investigation seeks to discover the most effective ways to convey a virtual to physical hug using the haptic device. Previous research has revealed a high level of participant interest, as well as increased immersion in SGs realism, leading to additional research and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 5.0 adopts a human-centric approach that views humans as a natural part of introducing new technology, such as collaborative robots. However, one of the main challenges in implementing collaborative robots is safety, including the sense of safety. Trust is also a primary challenge when establishing functional collaboration. Influencing factors includes experience and expertise, and research shows that Virtual Reality has the potential to perform such training. This research aims to investigate whether using virtual reality with appropriate feedback can be an effective platform for familiarization and training. In our experiment, we utilized haptic feedback from commercial Virtual Reality controllers to simulate physical interactions with collaborative robots. The experiment involved the participation of fifteen individuals. The results showed that participants regarded haptic feedback while moving as the most appropriate representation. This research aims to identify whether Virtual Reality with suitable feedback can serve as a familiarization and training platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The tactile threshold test is feasible and valid in children with UMN lesions. • The tactile localization tasks are feasible and valid in children with UMN lesions. • The scores differed significantly between children with and without UMN lesions. • The inter-rater reliability was high for all 3 outcome measures. To investigate the feasibility, discriminative and convergent validity, and inter-rater reliability of a lower limb tactile function and 2 body awareness assessments in children with upper motor neuron (UMN) lesions. Cross-sectional psychometric study. Pediatric rehabilitation center. Forty individuals with UMN lesions (mean age 11.7 years, SD 3.4 years; 27 girls) and 40 neurotypically developing children of the same age participated (N=80). Not applicable. We assessed the tactile threshold (TT) with monofilaments and body awareness with tactile localization tasks (TLTs) for structural (TLT action) and spatial (TLT perception) body representation at the foot sole. We compared the test outcomes between children with UMN lesions and neurotypically developing children with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Furthermore, we quantified the relations between the 3 tests with Spearman correlations (r s) and the interrater reliability with quadratic weighted kappa (κ QW). About 80% of the children with UMN lesions perceived the tests easy to perform. The children with UMN lesions had significantly reduced somatosensory function compared with the neurotypically developing children. For the more affected leg, we found good relations between the TT and the TLT action (r s =0.71; P <.001) and between the 2 TLTs (r s =0.66; P <.001), and a fair relation between the TT and the TLT perception (r s =0.31; P =.06). The inter-rater reliability analyses for the sum scores showed almost perfect agreement for the TT (κ QW more affected leg 0.86; less affected leg 0.81), substantial agreement for TLT action (κ QW more affected leg 0.76; less affected leg 0.63), and almost perfect agreement for TLT perception (κ QW more affected leg 0.88; less affected leg 0.74). The 3 tests are feasible to assess lower limb somatosensory function in children with UMN lesions. Discriminative and convergent validity and reliability of the 3 tests were confirmed. Further studies should investigate responsiveness and association with motor function of these outcome measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexuality significantly impacts well-being. Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been increasingly recognized as a crucial factor in promoting psychological well-being and higher-quality relationships. However, the potential of trait EI as a protective factor in sexuality remains understudied. This study aimed to 1) investigate a model where trait EI influences insecure attachments, which are hypothesized to be negatively linked with comfort with interpersonal touch and body appreciation, subsequently predicting higher sexual satisfaction and lower problematic sexual behaviour (PSB); and 2) explore the model's replicability across different types of relationships. 672 Italian adults in monogamous, non-monogamous and dating relationships (71.4 % females) aged 18–77 (M = 34.6; SD = 12.2) completed an anonymous online survey. Path analysis and multi-group analysis were conducted. Trait EI indirectly predicted sexual satisfaction through attachment avoidance and comfort with interpersonal touch. It also indirectly predicted PSB through attachment avoidance and anxiety. Multigroup analysis revealed that, only in the dating group, trait EI predicted PSB through attachment anxiety and comfort with interpersonal touch. The findings highlight the importance of trait EI in mitigating negative emotions linked to insecure attachments, reducing the risk of PSB, and improving overall sexual satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We do not have a veridical representation of our body in our mind. For instance, tactile distances of equal measure along the medial-lateral axis of our limbs are generally perceived as larger than those running along the proximal-distal axis. This anisotropy in tactile distances reflects distortions in body-shape representation, such that the body parts are perceived as wider than they are. While the origin of such anisotropy remains unknown, it has been suggested that visual experience could partially play a role in its manifestation. To causally test the role of visual experience on body shape representation, we investigated tactile distance perception in sighted and early blind individuals comparing medial-lateral and proximal-distal tactile distances of stimuli presented on the ventral and dorsal part of the forearm, wrist, and hand. Overestimation of distances in the medial-lateral over proximal-distal body axes were found in both sighted and blind people, but the magnitude of the anisotropy was significantly reduced in the forearms of blind people. We conclude that vision does not drive the emergence of tactile distance anisotropies, but visual experience can however modulate its expression on some specific body parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of both the Piezo and transmembrane channel-like (TMC) families are bona fide mammalian mechanotransducers. In a recent study, Zhang, Shao et al. discovered that TMC7, a non-mechanosensitive TMC, inhibits Piezo2-dependent mechanosensation, with implications for the importance of cellular context for Piezo2 channels in normal and pathological responses to mechanical pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This narrative review presents key concepts from neurophysiology, phenomenology, psychology, and narrative medicine which underpin a developing enactive-ecological framework for osteopathic practice. This framework aims to provide a coherent theoretical basis for understanding healthcare processes and outcomes, based on the neuroscience principles of active inference and enactivism. It offers insights into factors that influence patients' pain perception and behaviour and foster or inhibit the development of effective therapeutic relationships. Although this approach offers promising opportunities to increase the scope of care by harnessing potential in the unique embodied ecological niches created between patients and osteopaths, it raises challenges to traditional treatment agendas. Healthcare which frames the patient-as-a person, and acknowledges the multidimensional nature of the self, requires practitioners to be collaborative and self-aware, and be able to elicit patients' lived experiences and body stories. Phenomenological and psychological studies into enactivism emphasise the complex, dynamic nature of therapeutic relationships and the need to understand each person's unique lifeworld context. The new framework represents an important step forward, but further research is now needed to explore ways of integrating active and enactive inference into practice, of developing psychological or mindful self- and body-awareness, and narrative communication skills for shared sense-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Existing literature focuses on healthcare professionals, whereas this article explores changes in public knowledge of IPC, where knowledge is comparably sparse. National surveys were conducted before (March 2020) and after (March 2021) the COVID-19 lockdown across England. A telephone survey of 1676 adults (2021) and a face-to-face survey of 2202 adults (2020) across England were conducted. Key demographics were representative of the population. Weighted logistic regression with composite Wald P -values was used to investigate knowledge change from 2020 to 2021. Compared with 2020, significantly more respondents correctly stated that infections can spread by shaking hands (86% post vs 79% pre; P <.001) and that microbes are transferred through touching surfaces (90% vs 80%; P <.001). More knew that hand gel is effective at removing microbes if water and soap are unavailable (94% vs 92%; P =.015); that when you cough, you may infect other people near you in a room (90% vs 80%; P <.001). Knowledge that vaccination protects others from infection also increased (63% post vs 50% pre; P <.001). There was also significant increase in those confident in their answers. Knowledge of IPC measures was higher in 2021 than before the pandemic. Future public health hygiene campaigns should capitalise on this and emphasise that continuing hygiene behaviours, and vaccination can help prevent acquisition and illnesses with other non-COVID-19 infections, thus reducing the strain on the national health service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preterm infants experience numerous stressors in the neonatal intensive care unit. Non-pharmacological interventions, including maternal comforting touch, reduce stress responses of preterm infants; however, the effects of clinician-administered comforting touch are unclear. The purpose of this integrative review was to synthesize findings from clinical trials to determine the effect of clinician-administered comforting touch on preterm infants' acute stress responses. Eligible clinical trials were published in English between 2001 and October 2021 and reported effects of clinician-administered comforting touch on acute stress responses in preterm infants. Thirty clinical trials were included. Researchers tested the effect of comforting static touch, massage, massage with kinesthetic stimulation, sensorial saturation, and Yakson. There was significant heterogeneity in study design, comparison condition, and context of intervention delivery. Results varied; some studies demonstrated efficacy of comforting touch in reducing acute stress responses and others showed no effect. Generally, comforting touch provided during stressful procedures was associated with lower stress responses compared to standard care and was an effective adjunct to other stress management strategies. However, comforting touch alone was insufficient for managing pain, especially during skin-breaking procedures. While comforting touch may be a useful part of stress management plans for preterm infants, additional research is needed to determine when comforting touch is appropriate and effective. Comforting touch is beneficial to preterm infants and should be provided for stress management. For highly intrusive or painful procedures, comforting touch can be provided as part of a comprehensive stress management plan. • Comforting touch helps decrease preterm infant stress responses. • Comforting touch could be an adjunct for pain relief during painful procedures. • Comforting touch is insufficient pain management for highly intrusive procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The influence of cyclist warnings to conflicts with other road users was evaluated. • Cyclist warnings effectively shortened reaction time. • Acoustic warnings were more effective than vibro-tactile warnings. • The participants did not have a significant warning type preference. • Different learning effects related to the adoption of the warnings were observed. An on-bike warning system has great potential to increase safety of cyclists. For an effective warning system, the implementation of warning signals is fundamental. However, more knowledge about the cyclist specific design of warnings and the influence of warnings on the cyclist is needed. To analyze the benefit of warnings in conflicts and the reaction pattern of cyclists we conducted a test-track experiment. We evaluated the data of 62 participants who were divided into three warning groups (between-subjects) and encountered different situations (within-subjects). The warning groups either received acoustic, vibro-tactile or no warnings. The situation variable consisted of three conflicts and two false warnings in the groups with warnings. We measured significantly shorter reaction times of persons who received acoustic and vibro-tactile warnings compared to the persons without warning. Furthermore, acoustic warnings led to shorter reaction times compared to vibro-tactile warnings. The reaction pattern was described by different bicycle dynamics variables. It was mostly influenced by the situation and rarely by the warning group. Based on the velocity curves and reaction times we identified learning effects describing how the warned participants adopted the warning system over the five situations. These findings indicate that a warning system offers great safety benefits to cyclists. Based on the current results, acoustic warnings are recommended when an urgent reaction is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous researchers from different disciplines have contributed to understanding the role of haptic information in the digital context, few have adopted a comprehensive approach that spans device development to consumer reactions. To address this gap, the current study developed the HAPshop system, a 3D mouse-shaped haptic device that delivers haptic information about a product in a digital setting, and investigated its impact on consumer psychology and behavior during online shopping. The HAPshop can calculate two-dimensional tangential frictional force and one-dimensional normal height changes to deliver 3D tactile information about products to consumers. The study demonstrated that providing haptic information through the HAPshop can enhance positive consumer responses. Through a behavioral lab experiment and sequential mediation analysis, we demonstrated that physical haptic information delivered through HAPshop leads to a sense of spatial proximity between the consumer and product, increased product elaboration during the shopping experience, and greater certainty in their evaluation of the product. This ultimately translates into a higher purchase likelihood toward consumers' favorable product. These findings contribute to the literature on human-computer interaction (HCI) and consumer psychology by providing an interdisciplinary understanding of device development and consumer reactions, bridging the existing research gap across various disciplines. • HAPshop: 3D mouse-shaped device delivering haptic information about products in a digital setting. • HAPshop calculates 2D tangential frictional force and 1D normal height changes. • Physical haptic information leads to spatial proximity, product engagement, and evaluation certainty. • HAPshop contributes to interdisciplinary understanding of device development and consumer reactions. • Findings inform human-computer interaction and consumer psychology in online shopping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Creative Puppet Therapy (moldable DAS to create puppets) on patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (SPs) vs SPs engaged in a pseudo-treatment vs control participants (CPs) • CPT reduced hallucination frequency in SPs (compared to SPs engaged in a pseudo-treatment) • Puppets by SPs had larger eyes (correlated with fear, sadness, anger, and disgust) and wider whole face width (correlated with boredom) than puppets by CPs • Exteroception (sight, sound, taste, and smell) vs Interoception (interoceptive-touch and bodily interoception) may be the most valuable classification of hallucinations in schizophrenia • CPT can be a low-cost, low-risk, and high-benefit intervention in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia Anomalous experiences and hallucinations characterize schizophrenia. This study aimed at determining the efficacy of creative puppet therapy (CPT; creation of a puppet with malleable DAS) to reduce severe anomalous experiences and hallucinations among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Double-blinded, controlled trials were performed on a convenience sample of 24 patients from a mental health center. The intervention group of 12 patients (who created puppets) and the pseudo-treatment group of 12 patients (who were involved in outdoor leisure trips) were compared to the control group of 12 control participants (who created puppets). Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS) assessed hallucinations; Emotional Expression Inventory (EEXI) assessed the emotional expression of one's own puppet. Puppet facial features were measured. Results showed that CPT effectively reduced (d = –4.00) hallucination frequency in patients. Hallucination reduction occurred across all sensory modalities, but touch and bodily interoception. Exteroceptive vs. interoceptive hallucinations was the most valuable classification in patients. Compared to controls, puppets created by patients expressed more negative emotions and had larger eye diameters, shorter noses, and larger whole face width. Eye diameter was correlated with fear, sadness, anger, and disgust, and whole face width with boredom. Fragmented-self integration of schizophrenia through CPT treatment might exploit aggregative dominance of the patient's own body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A method for tactile sensing through a single sensing structure is provided. • Millimetric localization and millinewton magnitude sensing are realized. • A high recognition accuracy is attained in objects classification. • The system's anti-temperature interference capability is improved. • The sensor exhibits commendable stability, repeatability, and response time. Humans possess the ability to perceive force or pressure, as well as discern various objects solely through the sense of touch. The advancement of an artificial tactile sensory system holds promising advantages for forthcoming robotic technologies, interfaces between humans and machines, artificial intelligence, and devices utilized for health monitoring. Here, we propose a soft tactile sensing pad that demonstrates the capability to detect tactile stimuli with high precision in terms of millimetric localization and millinewton magnitude sensing. This study employs a single Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material, in combination with a random forest (RF) algorithm. The aim is to mimic the human tactile recognition process, providing a means for tactile sensing through a single sensing structure. To evaluate the performance of the sensor, force-controlled indentations are conducted using a 4 mm diameter cylindrical indenter, applied with a spatial step of 2 mm across the pad's surface. The experimental findings demonstrate a high level of accuracy, with an accuracy rate exceeding 98 % in identifying contact position on the sensing pad. Furthermore, the force sensing capability achieved a 100 % accuracy rate within the range of 0.1 N–0.5 N at a resolution of 0.1 N, and surpassed 98 % accuracy within the range of 0.11 N–0.15 N at a resolution of 0.01 N. Additionally, the tactile pad is utilized to mimic human skin functionality, facilitating the classification of various objects based on its ability to recognize contact position and magnitude. The experimental findings show a 100 % recognition rate in differentiating between nine distinct object types (rectangle, square, triangle, circle, semicircle, ellipse, hexagon, six-pointed star, and pentacle). In the context of identifying 11 angular objects ranging from 40 to 50 degrees in 1-degree increment, a recognition accuracy of 86.7 % is attained. The tactile sensor also demonstrated good stability, repeatability, and response time under consistent temperature conditions, thereby crucially contributing to its elevated and consistent recognition rate. To simulate practical scenarios, the sensor's recognition accuracy is assessed in a variable temperature setting. The results indicate that by incorporating temperature-related data into the training process, the sensor's good robustness can be achieved within a temperature range of 20.4–27 ℃, thereby highlighting its potential for practical implementations, particularly in the realms of human–machine interactions and automated sorting within unmanned factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Capsaicin-induced oral irritation exhibited associations with specific hand-feel tactile materials. • Sandpapers and stainless steel showed different levels of cross-modal associations. • Emotions from stimuli were crucial in cross-modal links between hand-feel and oral irritation. • Instrumental parameters of surface texture were used to predict these associations. The influence of extrinsic hand-feel touch cues on consumer experiences in food and beverage consumption is well established. However, their impact on trigeminal perception, particularly the oral irritation caused by capsaicin or spicy foods, is less understood. This study aimed to determine the existence of cross-modal associations between hand-feel touch and capsaicin-induced oral irritation. This study investigated whether these potential associations were driven by the sensory contributions of the hand-feel tactile materials (measured by instrumental physical parameters) or by affective responses (evaluated through hedonic scales and the self-reported emotion questionnaire, EsSense Profile®, by consumers). In our study, 96 participants tasted a capsaicin solution while engaging with nine hand-feel tactile materials, i.e., cardboard, linen, rattan, silicone, stainless steel, sandpaper (fine), sandpaper (rough), sponge, and towel. They subsequently rated their liking and emotional responses, perceived intensity of oral irritation, and the congruency between hand-feel tactile sensation and oral irritation. Instrumental measurements characterized the surface texture of the hand-feel tactile materials, which were correlated with the collected sensory data. The results revealed that unique cross-modal associations between hand-feel touch and capsaicin-induced oral irritation. Specifically, while sandpapers demonstrated high congruence with the sensation of oral irritation, stainless steel was found to be least congruent. These associations were influenced by both the common emotional responses ("active," "aggressive," "daring," "energetic," "guilty," and "worried") evoked by the hand-feel tactile materials and the capsaicin, as well as by participants' liking for the hand-feel tactile materials and the characteristics of the surface textures. This study provides empirical evidence of the cross-modality between hand-feel tactile sensations and capsaicin-induced oral irritation, opening new avenues for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to investigate the value of sound touch elastography (STE) in predicting axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) in patients with invasive breast cancer (IBC) and to explore whether lysyl oxidase (LOX) is correlated with increasing stiffness and promotion of metastasis in IBC. A total of 142 lesions in 142 patients were assessed by STE. The STE values of IBCs in the two groups were compared and the best cutoff values for diagnosing ALNM determined. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect LOX expression. Collagen fiber and elastic fiber content was determined by Masson and Weigert elastic fiber staining. Correlation analyses were performed to identify the associations of the data. The optimal cutoff values of Emax (maximum stiffness value of the tumor) and Smax (maximum stiffness value of the shell) for predicting ALNM of IBC were 94.58 and 148.78 kPa. Immunohistochemistry and Masson and Weigert elastic fiber staining were performed on 67 samples. LOX expression and collagen volume fraction were significantly higher in the ALNM+ group than in the ALNM- group (p = 0.04 and 0.03), except for elastic fiber content (p = 0.628). Moreover, Emax, Smax and LOX expression were positively correlated with collagen volume fraction (r = 0.624, 0.512, and 0.533, respectively). Emax and Smax were found to be predictors for ALNM of IBC. STE could serve as a non-invasive method for assessing lymph node status before surgery. Overexpression of LOX and increased collagen fiber contributed to the increased stiffness in the lesions and metastases of IBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study described here was to assess the evaluation of tissue stiffness around lesions by sound touch shear wave elastography (STE) in breast malignancy diagnosis. This was an institutional ethics committee-approved, single-center study. A total of 90 women with breast masses examined with conventional ultrasound and STE were eligible for enrollment from December 2020 to July 2021. The maximum and mean elastic values of masses, Emax and Emean, were determined. Shell function was used to measure the maximum and mean elastic values of tissues around masses in annular shells 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mm wide, recorded as corresponding Emax-shell and Emean-shell. All parameters were analyzed and compared with histopathologic results. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to assess diagnostic performance. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the best diagnostic model. Collagen fiber content of tissues around breast lesions was evaluated using Masson staining and ImageJ software. Ninety women with breast masses were included in this study; 50 had benign (mean diameter 15.84 ± 4.39 mm) and 40 had malignant (mean diameter 17.40 ± 5.42 mm) masses. The diagnostic value of Emax-shell-2.0 was the highest (area under the curve = 0.930) with a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 88%. According to stepwise logistic regression analysis, Emax-shell-2.0 and age were independent predictors of malignancy. Emax-shell-2.0 was also found to be highly correlated with the collagen fiber content of tissue in the malignant group (r = 0.877). Tissue stiffness around lesions measured by STE is a useful metric in identifying malignant breast masses by reflecting collagen fiber content, and Emax-shell-2.0 performs best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Soft biometrics from smartphone touch dynamics. • Analysis from touch dynamics can classify users. • The impact of biometric biased experimentation on classification accuracy. • Results on public datasets confirm the feasibility of the proposal. Soft biometric traits are not fully distinctive in recognition tasks, but they can effectively added to biometric recognition systems to improve the overall performance. In this work, the focus is on the analysis of touch keystroke dynamics of smartphone's users for demographic classification in age, gender and user experience. Starting from the data collected in three publicly available datasets and using traditional lightweight machine learning classification algorithms, the results reported in this work shows that an effective demographic analysis can be achieved as well as continuous authentication could be improved. Moreover, the study emphasize a critical issue affecting the experimental protocols in soft biometric analysis, discussing how sensibly the performance of a system can increase on a not wise splitting of the samples in the datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of somatosensory cortex can partially restore the sense of touch. Though ICMS bypasses much of the neuraxis, prior studies have found that conscious detection of touch elicited by ICMS lags behind the detection of cutaneous vibration. These findings may have been influenced by mismatched stimulus intensities, which can impact temporal perception. Evaluate the relative latency at which intensity-matched vibration and ICMS are perceived by a human participant. One person implanted with microelectrode arrays in somatosensory cortex performed reaction time and temporal order judgment (TOJ) tasks. To measure reaction time, the participant reported when he perceived vibration or ICMS. In the TOJ task, vibration and ICMS were sequentially presented and the participant reported which stimulus occurred first. To verify that the participant could distinguish between stimuli, he also performed a modality discrimination task, in which he indicated if he felt vibration, ICMS, or both. When vibration was matched in perceived intensity to high-amplitude ICMS, vibration was perceived, on average, 48 ms faster than ICMS. However, in the TOJ task, both sensations arose at comparable latencies, with points of subjective simultaneity not significantly different from zero. The participant could discriminate between tactile modalities above chance level but was more inclined to report feeling vibration than ICMS. The latencies of ICMS-evoked percepts are slower than their mechanical counterparts. However, differences in latencies are small, particularly when stimuli are matched for intensity, implying that ICMS-based somatosensory feedback is rapid enough to be effective in neuroprosthetic applications. • Vibration is perceived by a human faster than touch evoked by ICMS. • Vibration and ICMS are perceived simultaneously when delivered simultaneously. • High-intensity ICMS may be necessary for functionally beneficial BCIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our body is central to our sense of self, and distorted body representations are found in several serious medical conditions. This paper reviews evidence that distortions of body representations are also common in healthy individuals, and occur in domains including tactile spatial perception, proprioception, and the conscious body image. Across domains, there is a general tendency for body width to be overestimated compared to body length. Intriguingly, distortions in both eating disorders and chronic pain appear to be exaggerations of this baseline pattern of distortions, suggesting that these conditions may relate to dysfunction of mechanisms for body perception. Distortions of body representations provide a revealing window into basic aspects of self-perception. Distortions in the representation of the body are a conspicuous feature of several clinical disorders, including eating disorders and chronic pain. Recent work has shown that distortions are also common in healthy individuals, including in tasks assessing tactile spatial perception, proprioception, and the conscious body image. Across a range of tasks, there is a general bias to overestimate body width compared to length/height. Distorted body representations in conditions such as anorexia nervosa and chronic pain appear to be exaggerated forms of the distortions that occur in healthy individuals. Distorted body representations appear to be linked to aspects of psychological well-being, including body satisfaction and self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrovibration tactile display could render the tactile feeling of different textured surfaces by generating the frictional force through voltage modulation. When a user is sliding his/her finger on the display surface, he/she can feel the frictional texture. However, it is not trivial to prepare and fine-tune the appropriate frictional signals for haptic design and texture simulation. In this paper, we present a deep-learning-based framework to generate the frictional signals from the textured images of fabric materials. The generated frictional signal can be used for the tactile rendering on the electrovibration tactile display. Leveraging GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks), our system could generate the displacement-based data of frictional coefficients for the tactile display to simulate the tactile feedback of different fabric materials. Our experimental results show that the proposed generative model could generate the frictional-coefficient signals visually and statistically close to the ground-truth signals. The following user studies on fabric-texture simulation show that users could not discriminate the generated and the ground-truth frictional signals being rendered on the electrovibration tactile display, suggesting the effectiveness of our deep-frictional-signal-generation model. [Display omitted] • The deep-learning-based image-to-friction generation framework for tactile simulation of fabric material. • The augmented visual-to-frictional database based on HapTex for image-to-friction generation. • The technical experiment of frictional-coefficient signal generation evidencing the performance of the proposed generative model. • The user-perception experiment validating the effectiveness of generated signals for tactile simulation of fabrics on the electrovibration tactile display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP) experience upper limb somatosensory and motor deficits. Although constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) improves motor function, its impact on somatosensory function remains underinvestigated.Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate somatosensory perception and related brain responses in children with HCP, before and after a somatosensory enhanced CIMT protocol, as measured using clinical sensory and motor assessments and magnetoencephalography.Methods: Children with HCP attended a somatosensory enhanced CIMT camp. Clinical somatosensory (tactile registration, 2-point discrimination, stereognosis, proprioception, kinesthesia) and motor outcomes (Quality of Upper Extremity Skills [QUEST] Total/Grasp, Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test, grip strength, Assisting Hand Assessment), as well as latency and amplitude of magnetoencephalography somatosensory evoked fields (SEF), were assessed before and after the CIMT camp with paired sample t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.Results: Twelve children with HCP (mean age: 7.5 years, standard deviation: 2.4) participated. Significant improvements in tactile registration for the affected (hemiplegic) hand (Z = 2.39, P = 0.02) were observed in addition to statistically and clinically significant improvements in QUEST total (t = 3.24, P = 0.007), QUEST grasp (t = 3.24, P = 0.007), Assisting Hand Assessment (Z = 2.25, P = 0.03), and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (t = -2.62, P = 0.03). A significant increase in the SEF peak amplitude was also found in the affected hand 100 ms after stimulus onset (t = -2.22, P = 0.04).Conclusions: Improvements in somatosensory clinical function and neural processing in the affected primary somatosensory cortex in children with HCP were observed after a somatosensory enhanced CIMT program. Further investigation is warranted to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of a sensory enhanced CIMT program in larger samples and controlled study designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ce texte est le deuxième sur deux et décrit de nouvelles hypothèses sur la notion de schéma corporel (SC). Clarifié par Dolto et Gallagher qui l'ont conceptuellement cantonné à l'équipement neuro-anatomique et neurophysiologique, le SC est devenu un champ de recherche pour les neurosciences. Distinct de l'image du corps, donnée affective, il concerne, en plus des systèmes moteurs, la proprioception principalement, la vision périphérique–c'est-à-dire la vision des mouvements – et le système vestibulaire. La vision périphérique est un soutien. Le système vestibulaire (antigravitaire) est concerné par les constants et nécessaires réajustements posturaux. Intéroception et toucher ne sont pas impliqués dans le SC, contrairement à l'espace péri-personnel. Différentes zones du système nerveux central sont impliquées. This paper is the second of two about the relationship between the body schema concept and the neurosciences. The first one concerned the history of the body schema concept. Dolto and Gallagher let the body schema go to the neurological and neurophysiological equipment. Since then, body schema has become a very good research field in neurosciences. Body image is an affective concept about the relationship between mind and body. Body schema is a physiological notion with proprioceptive, visual (including peripheral retina which involves the vision of movements and is located on the peripheral retina) and vestibular information. Motor systems are engaged too. The vestibular system is engaged for the postural modifications which change the weight of gravity. Interoception and touch are not supposed to interfere with body schema. Neurosciences have taught us to take into account a new kind of space to include in the body schema : the peri-personal space. Differents regions of the brain are involved in the body schema notion and are described here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue on crying and responses to crying is composed of six papers that investigate the ways children's crying is produced and responded to in everyday interaction in a range of languages, settings, and cultures. Crying episodes are approached from a multimodal interactional perspective, by paying attention to the participation frameworks and precipitating events in which it emerges (e.g., peer conflicts, accidents), its verbal and embodied production, and the ways caregivers and other adults and children respond in displaying stances, performing social actions, and (re-)engaging the crying children into activities. In addition to interactional micro-analysis of crying and responses to crying, the papers discuss the implications of crying episodes for children's pragmatic socialization, including stance, social action, identity, and morality. • Crying is a pragmatic act that invites responses. • Crying performs social action and displays affective stance. • Crying is responded to in contingently relevant and culturally informed ways. • Crying episodes are a site of socialization into stance, action, identity, and morality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose a brain model for understanding how touch attenuates distress. • We describe comforting touch as a feedback-loop involving several brain networks. • Inter-brain coupling between partners plays a key role the comforting touch model. • Understanding comforting touch offers a framework for studying social interactions. Comforting touch involves contact distress-alleviating behaviors of an observer towards the suffering of a target. A growing number of studies have investigated the effects of touch on pain attenuation, focusing on the (toucher), the target (comforted) or both. Here we synthesize findings of brain mechanisms underlying comforting touch in the target and toucher to propose an integrative brain model for understanding how touch attenuates distress. Building on evidence from the pain and distress literatures, our model applies interchangeably to pain and distress regulation. We describe comforting touch as a feedback-loop that begins with distress experienced by the target, triggering an empathic response in the toucher which in turn reduces distress in the target. This cycle is mediated by interactions between the neural circuits associated with touch perception, shared distress, emotion regulation and reward as well as brain-to-brain coupling in the observation-execution system. We conclude that formulating a model of comforting touch offers a mechanistic framework for understanding the effects of touch as well as other social interactions involving social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When stimulus inputs from different senses are integrated to form a coherent percept, inputs from a more precise sense are typically more dominant than those from a less precise sense. Furthermore, we hypothesized that some basic stimulus features, such as orientation, can be supramodal-represented at a conceptual level that is independent of the original modality precision. This hypothesis was tested with perceptual learning experiments. Specifically, participants practiced coarser tactile orientation discrimination, which initially had little impact on finer visual orientation discrimination (tactile vs. visual orientation thresholds = 3:1). However, if participants also practiced a functionally orthogonal visual contrast discrimination task in a double training design, their visual orientation performance was improved at both tactile-trained and untrained orientations, as much as through direct visual orientation training. The complete tactile-to-visual learning transfer is consistent with a conceptual supramodal representation of orientation unconstrained by original modality precision, likely through certain forms of input standardization. Moreover, this conceptual supramodal representation, when improved through perceptual learning in one sense, can in turn facilitate orientation discrimination in an untrained sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neural basis of tongue mechanosensation remains largely mysterious despite the tongue's high tactile acuity, sensitivity, and relevance to ethologically important functions. We studied terminal morphologies and tactile responses of lingual afferents from the trigeminal ganglion. Fungiform papillae, the taste-bud-holding structures in the tongue, were convergently innervated by multiple Piezo2+ trigeminal afferents, whereas single trigeminal afferents branched into multiple adjacent filiform papillae. In vivo single-unit recordings from the trigeminal ganglion revealed lingual low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) with distinct tactile properties ranging from intermediately adapting (IA) to rapidly adapting (RA). The receptive fields of these LTMRs were mostly less than 0.1 mm2 and concentrated at the tip of the tongue, resembling the distribution of fungiform papillae. Our results indicate that fungiform papillae are mechanosensory structures and suggest a simple model that links functional and anatomical properties of tactile sensory neurons in the tongue. [Display omitted] • The tip of the tongue is heavily innervated by lingual mechanoreceptors • Lingual LTMRs have small receptive fields and high sensitivity and adapt rapidly • Lingual afferents exhibit distinct innervation patterns in different papilla types • Fungiform papillae, the lingual papillae containing taste buds, are touch sensors The tip of the tongue, one of the most tactile-sensitive areas in the body, is enriched with taste-bud-containing fungiform papillae. Zhang et al. reveal that fungiform papillae are touch sensors and suggest a model linking functional and anatomical properties of tactile sensory neurons in the tongue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social touch through infant holding, skin-to-skin contact, and infant carrying (babywearing) decreases infant distress and promotes secure attachment. Unknown is the extent to which these effects are the result of the activation of C-Tactile afferents (CTs), the constellation of nerve fibers associated with affective touch, primarily located in the head and trunk of the body. The purpose of the present study was to compare dynamic touch (CTs activated) to static touch (CTs less activated) during a babywearing procedure among infants experiencing Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). NOWS is a spectrum of clinical symptoms, including elevated heart rate (HR), associated with withdrawal from intrauterine opioid exposure. We hypothesized that stroking an infant's head during babywearing would amplify the pleasurable effect of babywearing as measured by changes in infant HR. Twenty-nine infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Southwestern USA were worn in an infant carrier starting at five days old (M = 5.4, SD = 2.6; 46.2 % White, 26.9 % Latinx, 11.5 % Native American) and physiological readings were conducted daily; heart rates of infants and caregivers were taken every 15-seconds for 5-minutes, before , during , and after babywearing (30 min per phase). Each day infants alternated (randomly) in a static touch (hands-free babywearing) or dynamic touch condition (stroking the top of the infants' head at a velocity of 3 cm/s while babywearing). On average, infants completed 3 dynamic and 3 static babywearing sessions. Hospital and research staff participated in babywearing when a parent was not available (31.0 % of infants were exclusively worn by volunteers, 27.6 % were exclusively worn by parents). We analyzed the data using Hierarchical Linear Models due to the 3-level nested design (N = 29 infants, N = 191 readings, N = 11,974 heart rates). Compared to baseline (infant calm/asleep and without contact), infant's HRs significantly declined during and after babywearing, controlling for pharmacological treatment. These effects were significantly stronger during the dynamic touch condition (reduction in HR of 11.17 bpm) compared to the static touch condition (reduction in HR of 3.74 bpm). These effects did not significantly vary by wearer (mother, father, volunteer). However, differences between the dynamic and static conditions were significantly stronger in earlier babywearing sessions, potentially indicating a learning effect. There was evidence for a calming effect among caregivers as well, particularly in the dynamic touch condition, when caregivers were engaged in active touch. Activation of CTs appears to be an important mechanism in the physiological benefits of babywearing and in the symbiotic role of caregiver-infant attachment. • Babywearing is pleasurable, in part, due to the activation of C-Tactile afferents. • Babywearing, for infants with NOWS, is more calming when infant's heads are stroked. • Infants experience a greater drop in heart rate when worn by their mother. • Differences in babywearing conditions were largest in initial babywearing sessions. • Caregivers also experience a calming effect, particularly in the stroking condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classic attachment theory emphasizes the sensitivity of the parent to perceive and appropriately respond to the infant's cues. However, parent-child attachment is a dyadic interaction that is also dependent upon the sensitivity of the child to the early caregiving environment. Individual differences in infant sensitivity to parental cues is likely shaped by both the early caregiving environment as well as the infant's neurobiology, such as perceptual sensitivity to social stimuli. Here, we investigated associations between maternal postpartum depression and infant neurological sensitivity to affective touch using brain signal entropy – a metric of the brain's moment-to-moment variability related to signal processing. We recruited two independent samples of infants aged 0–5 months. In Sample 1 (n = 79), we found increased levels of maternal postpartum depression were associated with diminished perceptual sensitivity – i.e. lower entropy – to affective tactile stimulation specifically within the primary somatosensory cortex. In Sample 2 (n = 36), we replicated this finding and showed that this effect was not related to characteristics of the touch administered during the experiment. These results suggest that decreased affective touch early in life – a common consequence of postpartum depression – likely impacts the infant's perceptual sensitivity to affective touch and ultimately the formation of experience-dependent neural networks that support the successful formation of attachment relationships. • Maternal postpartum depression is associated with lower brain entropy in infancy. • PPD associations with entropy are specific to affective touch processing in S1. • An engineered brush demonstrates PPD associations with entropy are unrelated to acute touch properties. • Results highlight the importance of infant perceptual sensitivity to affective touch for attachment formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• C-tactile afferents (CTs) are unmyelinated low threshold mechanosensitive C-fibres found in the hairy skin of mammals. • They are hypothesised to signal the rewarding value of social tactile interactions. • High frequency heart rate variability (HRV) is an indirect measure of vagal tone. • Previous studies report a positive relationship between HRV and facial emotion recognition. • We report high frequency HRV also predicts sensitivity to the hedonic value of CT targeted touch. C-tactile afferents (CTs) are a class of unmyelinated, mechanosensitive nerve fibre that respond optimally to skin temperature, slow moving touch typical of a caress. They are hypothesised to signal the rewarding value of affiliative tactile interactions. While CT firing frequency is positively correlated with subjective ratings of touch pleasantness, trait differences in sensitivity to the specific hedonic value of CT targeted touch have been reported. Inter-individual differences in vagally mediated, high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) have been linked to variation in visual social cognition. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between resting state HF-HRV and sensitivity to socially relevant CT targeted touch. 58 healthy participants first had a 5-minute electrocardiogram. They then rated the pleasantness of 5 randomly presented velocities of robotically delivered touch. Three velocities fell within (1, 3, 10 cm/s) and two outside (0.3, 30 cm/s) the CT optimal range. Each velocity was delivered twice. On a group level, affective touch ratings were described by a negative quadratic function, with CT optimal velocities rated as more pleasant than slower and faster speeds. Simple regression analysis confirmed participants' HF-HRV was significantly predicted by the quadratic curve fit of their touch ratings, with higher HF-HRV associated with a better quadratic fit. These findings indicate that, in line with previous observations that higher HF-HRV is associated with enhanced sensitivity to visual social cues, trait differences in autonomic control could account for previously reported individual differences in CT sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of blindness, studies on the recognition of facial expressions of emotions by touch are essential to define the compensatory touch abilities and to create adapted tools on emotions. This study is the first to examine the effect of visual experience in the recognition of tactile drawings of facial expressions of emotions by children with different visual experiences. To this end, we compared the recognition rates of tactile drawings of emotions between blind children, children with low vision and sighted children aged 6–12 years. Results revealed no effect of visual experience on recognition rates. However, an effect of emotions and an interaction effect between emotions and visual experience were found. Indeed, while all children had a low average recognition rate, the drawings of fear, anger and disgust were particularly poorly recognized. Moreover, sighted children were significantly better at recognizing the drawings of surprise and sadness than the blind children who only showed high recognition rates for joy. The results of this study support the importance of developing emotion tools that can be understood by children with different visual experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distracted driving is a major contributing factor to road crashes and is, therefore, an important topic within the field of driving safety. The performance of secondary tasks while driving can lead to distraction, as does the use of functions in the vehicle. Traditional interaction modes like haptic buttons or touch displays require the driver to visually search for the respective items to press or touch. Therefore, modern interaction modes should assess the level of distraction being caused. Previous studies revealed shorter and fewer glances away from the street scenery when using gesture-based interaction. These findings raise hope that driver distraction can be diminished through the use of these features. Of course, one must consider not only those objective parameters but also subjective parameters in order to determine if users will use a system. This study compares gesture-based interaction with touch-based interaction. Participants drove in a high-fidelity driving simulator that used a real vehicle driving on a test track, which allowed for a realistic driving impression. They were asked to rate their subjective impression of both interaction types in terms of acceptance, attractivity, trust and workload. We observed that all parameters were rated more positively when using gestures compared to touch. Therefore, we assume that the use of gestures for in-vehicle interaction seems to be attractive to users. • The usage of technical devices or in-vehicle information systems can be one factor leading to distracted drivers. • It has already been shown that gesture-based interaction can reduce driver distraction. • This manuscript pictures an experiment in the Vehicle in the Loop, combining real world driving with a simulated environment. • Participants were asked to use gestures or touch while driving and perform different tasks. • Results show that users perceive gestures as attractive, less demanding and trustworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For visually impaired or blind patients, the experience of pregnancy sets them apart from nondisabled people for whom viewing of the first ultrasound has become a social and emotional milestone.Objective: We proposed the use of 3D-printed models to allow the societal inclusion of visually impaired or blind expectant parents.Patient Involvement: Visually impaired expectant parents were proposed to touch a 3D printed sensory vector of their prenatal classic ultrasonography.Methods: After a classic ultrasound assessment was performed, selected volumes were processed and 3D-printed with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Patient satisfaction was recorded after they manipulated the models.Results: A total of 42 prenatal 3D prints were for 12 expectant parents, used during 20 ultrasonographic sessions with visually impaired or blind expectant parents. During 13 of them (65%), it was the mother who was affected by a visual loss whereas the father was the parent affected by the disability during 7 sessions (35%). The parent affected by the disability was congenitally blind and Braille-reader in 9 ultrasonography sessions (45%). All expectant visually impaired or blind parents expressed very significant satisfaction with the use of 3D models for inclusive use.Discussion: We have shown that acrylonitrile butadiene styrene-printed models improve the sonographic experience of visually impaired or blind expectant parents. They can thereby perform their own mental representation process by extrapolating sensory information obtained from the 3D tactile support.Practical Value: These low-cost 3D-printed models improve the inclusion of visually impaired or blind expectant parents, by offering them a sensory vector of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is unclear how physical contact contributes to the development of social bonding. • Mice can exhibit social bonding through the expression of emotional contagion. • Emotional contagion developed between mice after voluntary huddling behavior. • This social bonding required direct physical contact rather than proximity. The establishment and maintenance of strong affiliative relationships is fundamental for group cohesion and crucial for overall individual well-being. Empathy is considered a critical process for promoting attachment and the long-term stability of social bonds. However, it is unclear how different modalities of social communication contribute to the development of empathy. Physical contact between individuals, such as gentle touching, is a highly salient form of social communication. Despite mounting evidence that touch may be crucial for promoting social bonds, the role of touch in the development of empathy is currently not well understood. Animal models have become a powerful tool for the experimental manipulation and examination of empathy related behaviors such as emotional contagion. Here, we use the Tube Co-Occupancy Test (TCOT) to promote voluntary physical contact between mice and examine whether social, physical contact promotes emotional contagion of pain between mice. We found that repeated exposure to TCOT promoted the development of emotional contagion between mice. However, preventing physical contact in the TCOT assay also prevented the development of emotional contagion of pain. These results demonstrate that voluntary physical contact is a critical component in the formation of social bonding and emotional contagion in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• With age, touch sensitivity declines, and gentle touch becomes more pleasant. • Skin elasticity is reduced, and skin tactile receptors are reduced or altered. • Axonal loss and demyelination affect the amount and timing of neural signals. • The brain undergoes changes to somatotopic organisation, and many broad changes. • The link between perceptual and physiological age-related changes remains elusive. Ageing is accompanied by a steady decline in touch sensitivity and acuity. Conversely, pleasant touch, such as experienced during a caress, is even more pleasant in old age. There are many physiological changes that might explain these perceptual changes, but researchers have not yet identified any specific mechanisms. Here, we review both the perceptual and structural changes to the touch system that are associated with ageing. The structural changes include reduced elasticity of the skin in older people, as well as reduced numbers and altered morphology of skin tactile receptors. Effects of ageing on the peripheral and central nervous systems include demyelination, which affects the timing of neural signals, as well as reduced numbers of peripheral nerve fibres. The ageing brain also undergoes complex changes in blood flow, metabolism, plasticity, neurotransmitter function, and, for touch, the body map in primary somatosensory cortex. Although several studies have attempted to find a direct link between perceptual and structural changes, this has proved surprisingly elusive. We also highlight the need for more evidence regarding age-related changes in peripheral nerve function in the hairy skin, as well as the social and emotional aspects of touch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We conducted a reanalysis of 5 studies into variability of pleasant touch perception from stroking over the skin. • We asked whether the inverted-U shape pleasantness curve over slow to fast stroking existed at the level of the individual. • We pooled the data from 127 healthy participants who rated pleasantness of slow to fast stroking. • Group data clearly exhibited the inverted-U shaped pleasantness curve, but this was not found in individuals. • High inter-individual variability exists in tactile pleasantness and this should not be used diagnostically in individuals. Many studies have investigated the perception of tactile pleasantness over a range of stroking velocities. On average, pleasantness is low at slow (e.g. 0.3 cm/s) and fast (e.g. 30 cm/s) stroking velocities, but is rated highest at velocities between 1 and 10 cm/s. On a group level, this results in an inverted-U shape pleasantness ratings curve, which is described statistically by a negative quadratic equation. We reanalyzed the data from five earlier studies to investigate whether the inverted-U shape pleasantness curve at the group level is also present at the level of the individual, – a precondition for using tactile pleasantness perception as a diagnostic marker. We pooled the data from five studies with a total of 127 participants. Each study included a 'standard condition' of stroking on the dorsal forearm over different velocities (0.3, 1, 3, 10, 30 cm/s) and participants rated the pleasantness. Factors other than stroking velocity were also varied in these studies. On the whole-group level and in each study, pleasantness ratings produced a significant negative quadratic pleasantness curve over the stroking velocities. In individual participants, ratings varied greatly and only 42% of the participants showed a significant negative quadratic curve. The steepness of the inverted-U correlated only moderately across other experimental conditions, showing that the experimental circumstances can influence pleasantness ratings. Our findings have important implications for future work, where differences in the tactile pleasantness curve should not be used to predict or diagnose issues at an individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolutionarily conserved Piezo channel family, including Piezo1 and Piezo2 in mammals, serves as versatile mechanotransducers in various cell types and consequently governs fundamental pathophysiological processes ranging from vascular development to the sense of gentle touch and tactile pain. Piezo1/2 possess a unique 38-transmembrane (TM) helix topology and form a homotrimeric propeller-shaped structure comprising a central ion-conducting pore and three peripheral mechanosensing blades. The unusually curved TM region of the three blades shapes a signature nano-bowl configuration with potential to generate large in-plane membrane area expansion, which might confer exquisite mechanosensitivity to Piezo channels. Here, we review the current understanding of Piezo channels with a particular focus on their unique structural designs and elegant mechanogating mechanisms. Mechanotransduction by ion channels converts mechanical forces into biological signals. Piezo1 is a versatile mechanotransduction channel for initiating Ca2+ signaling in various non-excitable cell types, and Piezo2 mainly functions in sensory neurons and specialized cell types such as Merkel cells for sensing touch, tactile pain, balance, breath, blood pressure, and bladder fullness. Piezo1/2 form a three-bladed, propeller-like homotrimeric structure with the signature nano-bowl configuration of the highly curved TM region consisting of a total of 114 TM helices. Recent studies show that Piezo channels might utilize a dual-gating mechanism, in which the TM gate might be regulated by the top cap, while the lateral plug gates are controlled by the blade beam via an elegant plug-and-latch mechanism. Emerging models, including force-from-lipids and force-from-filament models, show how Piezo channels may respond to local changes of membrane curvature and tension and long-range mechanical perturbation across a cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has emerged as a non-invasive brain neuromodulation tool with high spatial specificity. Previous studies attributed tFUS-enhanced sensory performance to the ultrasound-induced inhibitory neural effects. However, to date there is no direct evidence validating the neural mechanism underlying ultrasound-mediated somatosensory enhancement. In this study, healthy human subjects (N = 9) were asked to perform tactile vibration frequency discrimination tasks while tFUS was directed onto the primary somatosensory cortex. During this task, we simultaneously recorded 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals and investigated the brain responses at both EEG sensors and source domains by means of electrophysiological source imaging (ESI). The behavioral results indicated that the subjects' discrimination ability was improved by tFUS with an increased percentage of correct responses. EEG and ESI results revealed that tFUS neuromodulation was able to improve sensory discrimination capability through excitatory effects at the targeted sensory cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sensory disorders frequently accompany the motor disorders in children with cerebral palsy (CP).Research Question: Do children with CP have sensory disturbances in their lower extremities? If there are sensory impairments, do these impairments affect gait?Methods: In total, 45 children (18 females, 27 males) in an age range between 5 and 18 years were included in the study: 15 typically developing children, 15 unilaterally affected children with cerebral palsy, and 15 bilaterally affected children with cerebral palsy. They could walk independently at the levels of I or II according to the gross motor function classification. After the demographic data of the children were recorded, their tactile sense, vibration sense, two-point discrimination, and proprioception were evaluated, and the Edinburgh Visual Gait Score (EVGS) was used for gait assessment.Results: Failures were discovered in lower extremity tactile (p = 0.001), two-point discrimination (p = 0.001), and proprioceptive senses of the children with CP (p = 0.001), and the loss of tactile sense was found to be related to gait disorders (p = 0.02, r = 0.41).Significance: There were deficiencies in the lower extremity senses, and deficiencies in the tactile sense negatively affected gait. Performing sensory assessments, which are considered to be fundamental for gait training in the rehabilitation of children with CP, and providing support for the lacking parameters in the intervention programs may create positive effects on gait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Muslims are one of the Others who stand outside the somatic norm. • Othering is sensed, lived, and felt in/through the body. • Encounters are perceived sensorially based on smell, touch, hearing, and look. • The Muslim Other is (re)produced through a set of multisensorial encounters. Often framed in the public discourse as Europe's ultimate Other, Muslims have been heftily debated and vastly problematised by politicians, pundits, and public intellectuals as unwanted immigrants, part of a bad diversity, problematic, violent, refusals of modernity, secularism, and freedom. Thinking through the body as a phenomenal lived body, we explore Othering as a set of visual, auditory, olfactory, and haptic encounters. Employing an urban ethnography on everyday lived experiences of young Muslims in Amsterdam, the paper investigates multiple modes through which Othering is sensed, lived, and felt through the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]