Touch-Perception Thresholds in Blind Diabetic Subjects in Relation to the Reading of Braille Type

Heinrichs, R. Walter; Moorhouse, John A.

doi:10.1056/nejm196901092800204

Cited by 36 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This is despite the fact that identical methods for threshold determination were used in both experiments. The existing literature on tactile thresholds is equally contradictive (Weinstein, 1968;Heinrich and Moorhouse, 1969;Liddle, 1969;Lindblom and Lindströ m, 1976;Warren, 1978;Bernard, 1979;Niemeyer and Starling, 1981;Bross and Borenstein, 1982;Hollins, 1989;Muchnik et al, 1991;Stevens et al, 1996), and we, therefore, conclude that neither visual deprivation nor Braille reading or the combination of both conditions is coupled with a substantial decrease of tactile perception thresholds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Sterr

Green

Elbert

2003

Biological Psychology

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In a previous experiment, we observed that blind Braille readers produce errors when asked to identify on which finger of one hand a light tactile stimulus had occurred. With the present study, we aimed to specify the characteristics of this perceptual error in blind and sighted participants. The experiment confirmed that blind Braille readers mislocalised tactile stimuli more often than sighted controls, and that the localisation errors occurred significantly more often at the right reading hand than at the non-reading hand. Most importantly, we discovered that the reading fingers showed the smallest error frequency, but the highest rate of stimulus attribution. The dissociation of perceiving and locating tactile stimuli in the blind suggests altered tactile information processing. Neuroplasticity, changes in tactile attention mechanisms as well as the idea that blind persons may employ different strategies for tactile exploration and object localisation are discussed as possible explanations for the results obtained. #

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Sterr

Green

Elbert

2003

Biological Psychology

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“…Although, for some aspects of tactile perception, visually impaired persons have exhibited performance superior to sighted people [42], it is generally believed that tactile sensitivities are similar in both visually impaired and sighted people [25], [26], [27], [28]. In general, we assumed no difference between the two populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subject population was mixed, as we could not recruit a sufficient number of visually impaired participants. According to previous research, visually impaired and normally sighted persons exhibit similar performance with regard to detection threshold, grating discrimination, light vibration, and two-point discrimination [25], [26], [27], [28]. Therefore, mixing participants of both populations was considered acceptable.…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Vibrotactile Patterns Encoding Obstacle Distance Information

Kim

Harders

Gassert

2015

IEEE Trans. Haptics

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Delivering distance information of nearby obstacles from sensors embedded in a white cane-in addition to the intrinsic mechanical feedback from the cane-can aid the visually impaired in ambulating independently. Haptics is a common modality for conveying such information to cane users, typically in the form of vibrotactile signals. In this context, we investigated the effect of tactile rendering methods, tactile feedback configurations and directions of tactile flow on the identification of obstacle distance. Three tactile rendering methods with temporal variation only, spatio-temporal variation and spatial/temporal/intensity variation were investigated for two vibration feedback configurations. Results showed a significant interaction between tactile rendering method and feedback configuration. Spatio-temporal variation generally resulted in high correct identification rates for both feedback configurations. In the case of the four-finger vibration, tactile rendering with spatial/temporal/intensity variation also resulted in high distance identification rate. Further, participants expressed their preference for the four-finger vibration over the single-finger vibration in a survey. Both preferred rendering methods with spatio-temporal variation and spatial/temporal/intensity variation for the four-finger vibration could convey obstacle distance information with low workload. Overall, the presented findings provide valuable insights and guidance for the design of haptic displays for electronic travel aids for the visually impaired.

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“…The results of several recent studies imply that a third of these 2,100 may have tactile sensitivity that is more than one standard deviation below normal. [3][4][5][6] Assuming that Tennesseeans do not differ dramatically from people in other states, there are undoubtedly a substantial number of such persons in this country. These people present an instructional challenge when they seek to learn braille, orientation and mobility skills, and daily living skills that depend largely on the sense of touch.…”

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confidence: 99%

Teaching Braille Reading to Tactilely Impaired, Blind Adults with Diabetes: Case Report

1986

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Whether diabetic adults with diminished tactile sensitivity can learn braille for use in daily living was investigated. Three subjects, two of whom are followed up from a recent study in which they learned grade 1 braille, learned to apply their braille knowledge to the reading of labels and telephone numbers. Characteristics of these adults and their training program are discussed. One implication of this study is that, although blind persons with diabetes and impaired tac tile sensitivity present a challenge, their condition should not necessarily be an excuse for denying braille training.

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Touch-Perception Thresholds in Blind Diabetic Subjects in Relation to the Reading of Braille Type

Cited by 36 publications

References 5 publications

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Identification of Vibrotactile Patterns Encoding Obstacle Distance Information

Teaching Braille Reading to Tactilely Impaired, Blind Adults with Diabetes: Case Report

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