Tactile suppression in goal-directed movement

Abstract

Sharing numerous characteristics with suppression in the other senses, tactile suppression is a reliable phenomenon that accompanies movement. By investigating the simplest of movements (e.g., finger flexions), early research tried to explain the origins of the phenomenon in terms of motor command generation together with sensory reafference. Here, we review recent research that has delved into (naturalistic) goal-directed movements. In connection with goal-directed movement, tactile suppression is evident as a decrease in behavioural performance measured shortly prior to, and during, movement execution. It is also reflected in a consistent response bias highlighting the (perceptual) uncertainty of the movement. Goal-directed movement supports the forward model and establishes contextual influences as the defining influences on tactile suppression. Depending on the task at hand, people prioritize a certain percept during movement. Future research, we argue, should focus on studying naturalistic movements, or sequences of movements, that share a common meaning or goal.

The Influence of Auditory Cues on Bodily and Movement Perception

“…Given the interactive possibilities of altering perceived surface texture via sound [for use in VR shopping applications, Ho et al (2013) for example], the bi-directional relationship between sensory perception and movement is relevant to consider. Recent work shows that changes in sensory perception during movement are specific to the type of sensory input and its relevance to the movement concerned (Juravle and Spence, 2011;Juravle et al, 2017). For example, when auditory cues are paired with a juggling task, there is an increased sensitivity to detect a gap in the auditory cue when compared with a rest (no movement) condition, but the opposite occurs for tactile cues: reduced sensitivity occurs during the movement (juggling) condition than during rest (see Figure 5) (Juravle and Spence, 2011).…”

Age effects on sensorimotor predictions: What drives increased tactile suppression during reaching?

“…Tactile suppression, in particular, refers to the attenuation of tactile signals during movement planning and execution when presented on a moving limb compared to rest (for review, see Juravle, Binsted, & Spence, 2017). Originally, tactile suppression was primarily considered as a cancellation of specific afferences that are predicted based on the efference copy of the motor commands (e.g., Bays, Flanagan, & Wolpert, 2006; but see Chapman & Beauchamp, 2006).…”

Motor cortex can modulate somatosensory processing via cortico-thalamo-cortical pathway

“…The activation of infragranular layers V and VI of M1 was followed by a period of tactile suppression, with an amplitude and time course similar to that observed following intracortical microstimulation of M1 in monkeys 25 . Such tactile suppression is also observed during movement [26][27][28][29] , and is thought to inhibit responses to self-generated tactile stimulation. Surprisingly, previous studies examining the effects of M1 optogenetic stimulation on whisker-evoked responses in mice have found predominantly facilitatory effects 8,9 .…”

“…Tactile suppression is likely to be mediated at multiple levels within sensorimotor systems, and may be effected by corollary motor commands and proprioceptive reafference 3,8,10,[26][27][28][29][30] . Here, we find that activation of M1 NTSR1+ layer VI cortico-thalamic neurons induces an excitationsuppression sequence across thalamocotical circuits, suggesting that cortico-thalamic projections from M1 to somatosensory thalamus are sufficient to induce some aspects of tactile suppression.…”