Temporal changes in cutaneous sensitivity during prolonged visual deprivation.

Abstract

Abstract : Two experiments were conducted in which various measures of cutaneous sensitivity were administered at intervals of 0. 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 days of visual deprivation (darkness). Relative to control subjects, the results revealed no significant differences in performance on the two-point threshold and on measures of pressure and pain sensitivity, although on the last two measures a definite trend toward an improvement was observed after the third day. On the other hand, the results on the tactual fusion threshold revealed a linear improvement in performance as a function of increasing duration to a statistically significant degree, at the first test period - 12 hours. A third experiment indicated that this improvement on the tactual fusion task first appeared somewhere between 4 and 12 hours of deprivation. Various hypotheses are offered to account for these differential results and the findings were related to Schultz's (1965) sensoristatic theory. (Author)