Quantifying spatial acuity of frequency resolved midair ultrasound vibrotactile stimuli

Abstract

Abstract Spatial acuity is a fundamental property of any sensory system. In the case of the somatosensory system, the two-point discrimination (2PD) test has long been used to investigate tactile spatial resolution. However, the somatosensory system comprises three main mechanoreceptive channels: the slowly adapting channel (SA) responds to steady pressure, the rapidly adapting channel (RA) responds to low-frequency vibration, and the Pacinian channel (PC) responds to high-frequency vibration. The use of mechanical stimuli in the classical 2PD test means that previous studies on tactile acuity have primarily focussed on the pressure-sensitive channel alone, while neglecting other submodalities. Here, we used a novel ultrasound stimulation to systematically investigate the spatial resolution of the two main vibrotactile channels. Contrary to the textbook view of poor spatial resolution for PC-like stimuli, across four experiments we found that high-frequency vibration produced surprisingly good spatial acuity. This effect remained after controlling for interchannel differences in stimulus detectability and perceived intensity. Laser doppler vibrometry experiments confirmed that the acuity of the PC channel was not simply an artifact of the skin’s resonance to high-frequency mechanical stimulation. Thus, PC receptors may transmit substantial spatial information, despite their sparse distribution, deep location, and large receptive fields.