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Involvement of visual cortex in tactile discrimination of orientation

Nature volume 401, pages 587–590 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The primary sense modalities (vision, touch and so on) are generally thought of as distinct. However, visual imagery is implicated in the normal tactile perception of some object properties, such as orientation1, shape and size2. Furthermore, certain tactile tasks, such as discrimination of grating orientation1 and object recognition3, are associated with activity in areas of visual cortex. Here we show that disrupting function of the occipital cortex using focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) interferes with the tactile discrimination of grating orientation. The specificity of this effect is illustrated by its time course and spatial restriction over the scalp, and by the failure of occipital TMS to affect either detection of an electrical stimulus applied to the fingerpad or tactile discrimination of grating texture. In contrast, TMS over the somatosensory cortex blocked discrimination of grating texture as well as orientation. We also report that, during tactile discrimination of grating orientation, an evoked potential is recorded over posterior scalp regions with a latency corresponding to the peak of the TMS interference effect (about 180 ms). The findings indicate that visual cortex is closely involved in tactile discrimination of orientation. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that visual cortical processing is necessary for normal tactile perception.

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Figure 1: Set up used for grating application.
Figure 2: Effect of TMS at the delays indicated.
Figure 3: Activation due to grating orientation (relative to spacing) observed in previous PET study1 superimposed on an axial, T-1-weighted MRI slice derived from one subject who participated in both the PET study and the present study.
Figure 4: Electrical potential (averaged across subjects) recorded over the scalp during tactile discrimination of grating orientation, relative to counting of tactile stimuli.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Eye Institute to K.S. We thank D. Rice for machining and electronic support.

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Author notes

  1. Andro Zangaladze

    Present address: Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 1025 Walnut Street, Suite 310, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107, USA

  2. K. Sathian: Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to K.S.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, WMRB-6000, PO Drawer V, 1639 Pierce Drive, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, USA

    Andro Zangaladze, Charles M. Epstein, Scott T. Grafton & K. Sathian

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  1. Andro Zangaladze
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  2. Charles M. Epstein
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Correspondence to K. Sathian.

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Zangaladze, A., Epstein, C., Grafton, S. et al. Involvement of visual cortex in tactile discrimination of orientation. Nature 401, 587–590 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/44139

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