Relationship between Tactile Sensation, Motor Activity, and Differential Brain Activity in Young Individuals

Abstract

In this study, we compared the differences in brain activation associated with the different types of objects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-six participants in their 20s underwent fMRI while grasping four different types of objects. After the experiment, all of the participants completed a questionnaire based on the Likert Scale, which asked them about the sensations they experienced while grasping each object (comfort, hardness, pain, ease in grasping). We investigated the relationship between brain activity and the results of the survey; characteristic brain activity for each object was correlated with the results of the questionnaire, indicating that each object produced a different sensation response in the participants. Additionally, we observed brain activity in the primary somatosensory cortex (postcentral gyrus), the primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus), and the cerebellum exterior during the gripping task. Our study shows that gripping different objects produces activity in specific and distinct brain regions and suggests an "action appraisal" mechanism, which is considered to be the act of integrating multiple different sensory information and connecting it to actual action. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to observe brain activity in response to tactile stimuli and motor activity simultaneously.

Keywords: brain activity; functional magnetic resonance imaging; motor activity; tactile sensation.

Figure 1

Pictures of the objects. (a) Object 1: A ball with wards; (b) Object 2: A squeezable ball; (c) Object 3: A regular hard ball; (d) Object 4: Slime.

Figure 2

Block design of the stimulus task: 30 s, 30 s per task, three intervals per object.

Figure 3

Percent signal change of each object in the anterior insula. * p < 0.05.

Figure 4

The images of the brain activation while grasping each object. (a) Object 1: Left postcentral gyrus (b) Object 2: Right middle frontal gyrus; (c) Object 3: Left postcentral gyrus; (d) Object 4: Left ventral diencephalon.