Abstract
Vestibular information about self-motion is combined with other sensory signals. Previous research described both visuo-vestibular and vestibular-tactile bilateral interactions, but the simultaneous interaction between all three sensory modalities has not been explored. Here we exploit a previously reported visuo-vestibular integration to investigate multisensory effects on tactile sensitivity in humans. Tactile sensitivity was measured during passive whole body rotations alone or in conjunction with optic flow, creating either purely vestibular or visuo-vestibular sensations of self-motion. Our results demonstrate that tactile sensitivity is modulated by perceived self-motion, as provided by a combined visuo-vestibular percept, and not by the visual and vestibular cues independently. We propose a hierarchical multisensory interaction that underpins somatosensory modulation: visual and vestibular cues are first combined to produce a multisensory self-motion percept. Somatosensory processing is then enhanced according to the degree of perceived self-motion.
Highlights
When vestibular and visual signals are in conflicting directions, the normal linear combination of cues breaks down, and a dramatic switch towards weighting a single cue may occur[28]
All studies agree that visual information dominates at lower frequencies, while vestibular information dominates at higher frequencies
In a condition similar to our incongruent flow condition, Zacharias and Young[25] found that vestibular signals initially lead to a high perceived velocity, with incongruent visual signals later producing a reduction in perceived velocity
Summary
All participants were naïve to the goals of the experiment. They were reimbursed at the rate of. The study was conducted in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. The experimental protocol was approved by the local ethics committee (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). The methods were carried out in accordance with the approved guidelines. Participants gave written informed consent in advance. All participants were right-handed as assessed by informal verbal inquiry
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