Active tactile discrimination is coupled with and modulated by the cardiac cycle
Active tactile discrimination is coupled with and modulated by the cardiac cycle
Abstract Perception and cognition are modulated by the phase of the cardiac signal in which the stimuli are presented. This has been shown by locking the presentation of stimuli to distinct cardiac phases. However, in everyday life sensory information is not presented in this phase-locked and passive manner, instead we actively sample the world. Whether active sensing is coupled and modulated with the cardiac cycle remains largely unknown. Here we recorded the ECGs of human participants while they actively performed a tactile grating orientation task. Here we show that the duration of subjects’ touch varied as a function of the cardiac phase in which they initiated it. Touches initiated in the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle were held for longer periods of time than touches initiated in the diastolic phase. This effect was driven by the elongation of their holds to sample the most difficult gratings. Conversely, while touches in the control condition were coupled to the cardiac cycle, their length was not modulated as a function of when in the cycle these were initiated. In line with interoceptive inference accounts, these results are consistent with the hypotheses that we actively adjust our sensory sampling so that we spend more time in the diastole period of the cardiac cycle in which perceptual sensory sensitivity is greatest.
Virdee Pavandeep、Kilner James M、Villacampa Javier、Galvez-Pol Alejandro
Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Queen Square Institute of Neurology. University College LondonDepartment of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Queen Square Institute of Neurology. University College LondonPsychology Department, University of the Balearic IslandsDepartment of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Queen Square Institute of Neurology. University College London||Psychology Department, University of the Balearic Islands
生理学基础医学生物科学研究方法、生物科学研究技术
active sensingactive sensing touchinteroceptiontactile discriminationcardiac cycle
Virdee Pavandeep,Kilner James M,Villacampa Javier,Galvez-Pol Alejandro.Active tactile discrimination is coupled with and modulated by the cardiac cycle[EB/OL].(2025-03-28)[2025-05-17].https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.10.479959.点此复制
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