Development of a dual tactile pattern presentation device using in MRI environment

Abstract

We have developed a novel tactile pattern presentation device to assess tactile cognitive function by active, passive and dual touch. The device is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible and can serve to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms of tactile pattern discrimination. The primary components of the system are one disk for pattern presentation (DPP) driven by an ultrasonic motor, one set of fingers position control unit and one reaction key pad. In order to evaluate the performance of the presentation device, two functional MRI tasks were executed. First, we used MRI-Phantom to test the practicability of the tactile pattern presentation device. Second, we designed a tactile raised line cognitive task with five young subjects to investigate the brain activity areas concerning tactile shape cognition by dual touch. The results suggested that this device to be unaffected by the magnetic field, and the brain imaging results were consistent with previous neuroimaging study. The most significantly of present study is that the device provides a powerful means of investigating neural mechanisms of perception and cognitive function for touch discrimination.