Dataset Information

Artificial tactile and proprioceptive feedback improves performance and confidence on object identification tasks.

ABSTRACT: Somatosensory feedback of the hand is essential for object identification. Without somatosensory feedback, individuals cannot reliably determine the size or compliance of an object. Electrical nerve stimulation can restore localized tactile and proprioceptive feedback with intensity discrimination capability similar to natural sensation. We hypothesized that adding artificial somatosensation improves object recognition accuracy when using a prosthesis. To test this hypothesis, we provided different forms of sensory feedback-tactile, proprioceptive, or both-to two subjects with upper limb loss. The subjects were asked to identify the size or mechanical compliance of different foam blocks placed in the prosthetic hand while visually and audibly blinded. During trials, we did not inform the subjects of their performance, but did ask them about their confidence in correctly identifying objects. Finally, we recorded applied pressures during object interaction. Subjects were free to use any strategy they chose to examine the objects. Object identification was most accurate with both tactile and proprioceptive feedback. The relative importance of each type of feedback, however, depended on object characteristics and task. Sensory feedback increased subject confidence and was directly correlated with accuracy. Subjects applied less pressure to the objects when they had tactile pressure feedback. Artificial somatosensory feedback improves object recognition and the relative importance of tactile versus proprioceptive feedback depends on the test set. We believe this test battery provides an effective means to assess the impact of sensory restoration and the relative contribution of different forms of feedback (tactile vs. kinesthetic) within the neurorehabilitation field.

SUBMITTER: Schiefer MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6281191 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Artificial tactile and proprioceptive feedback improves performance and confidence on object identification tasks.

Schiefer Matthew A MA Graczyk Emily L EL Sidik Steven M SM Tan Daniel W DW Tyler Dustin J DJ

PloS one 20181205 12

Somatosensory feedback of the hand is essential for object identification. Without somatosensory feedback, individuals cannot reliably determine the size or compliance of an object. Electrical nerve stimulation can restore localized tactile and proprioceptive feedback with intensity discrimination capability similar to natural sensation. We hypothesized that adding artificial somatosensation improves object recognition accuracy when using a prosthesis. To test this hypothesis, we provided differ ...[more]

PMID: 30517154

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Project description:This study examined the trainability of the proprioceptive sense and explored the relationship between proprioception and motor learning. With vision blocked, human learners had to perform goal-directed wrist movements relying solely on proprioceptive/haptic cues to reach several haptically specified targets. One group received additional somatosensory movement error feedback in form of vibro-tactile cues applied to the skin of the forearm. We used a haptic robotic device for the wrist and implemented a 3-day training regimen that required learners to make spatially precise goal-directed wrist reaching movements without vision. We assessed whether training improved the acuity of the wrist joint position sense. In addition, we checked if sensory learning generalized to the motor domain and improved spatial precision of wrist tracking movements that were not trained. The main findings of the study are: First, proprioceptive acuity of the wrist joint position sense improved after training for the group that received the combined proprioceptive/haptic and vibro-tactile feedback (VTF). Second, training had no impact on the spatial accuracy of the untrained tracking task. However, learners who had received VTF significantly reduced their reliance on haptic guidance feedback when performing the untrained motor task. That is, concurrent VTF was highly salient movement feedback and obviated the need for haptic feedback. Third, VTF can be also provided by the limb not involved in the task. Learners who received VTF to the contralateral limb equally benefitted. In conclusion, somatosensory training can significantly enhance proprioceptive acuity within days when learning is coupled with vibro-tactile sensory cues that provide feedback about movement errors. The observable sensory improvements in proprioception facilitates motor learning and such learning may generalize to the sensorimotor control of the untrained motor tasks. The implications of these findings for neurorehabilitation are discussed.

Project description:The ability to reason about causality underlies key aspects of human cognition, but the extent to which non-humans understand causality is still largely unknown. The Aesop's Fable paradigm, where objects are inserted into water-filled tubes to obtain out-of-reach rewards, has been used to test casual reasoning in birds and children. However, success on these tasks may be influenced by other factors, specifically, object preferences present prior to testing or arising during pre-test stone-dropping training. Here, we assessed this 'object-bias' hypothesis by giving New Caledonian crows and 5-10 year old children two object-choice Aesop's Fable experiments: sinking vs. floating objects, and solid vs. hollow objects. Before each test, we assessed subjects' object preferences and/or trained them to prefer the alternative object. Both crows and children showed pre-test object preferences, suggesting that birds in previous Aesop's Fable studies may also have had initial preferences for objects that proved to be functional on test. After training to prefer the non-functional object, crows, but not children, performed more poorly on these two object-choice Aesop's Fable tasks than subjects in previous studies. Crows dropped the non-functional objects into the tube on their first trials, indicating that, unlike many children, they do not appear to have an a priori understanding of water displacement. Alternatively, issues with inhibition could explain their performance. The crows did, however, learn to solve the tasks over time. We tested crows further to determine whether their eventual success was based on learning about the functional properties of the objects, or associating dropping the functional object with reward. Crows inserted significantly more rewarded, non-functional objects than non-rewarded, functional objects. These findings suggest that the ability of New Caledonian crows to produce performances rivaling those of young children on object-choice Aesop's Fable tasks is partly due to pre-existing object preferences.

Dataset Information

Artificial tactile and proprioceptive feedback improves performance and confidence on object identification tasks.

Publications

Artificial tactile and proprioceptive feedback improves performance and confidence on object identification tasks.

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