onLINe Seminar

Prof Katja Fiehler (Giessen University):

>>Prediction of somatosensory action consequences<<

11.03.2022

2 p.m.

zoom

https://ovgu.zoom.us/j/67828908617 
Meeting ID: 678 2890 8617
Passcode: 742435

Abstract:

Prof Katja Fiehler is a leading expert on interactions between action and perception. Her talk will focus on joint influences of movement, and task relevance, on sensory processing of the consequences of action, a topic highly relevant to learning. Movement planning and execution lead to changes in somatosensory perception. For example, tactile stimuli on a moving compared to a resting limb are typically perceived as weaker and later in time. This phenomenon is termed tactile suppression and has been linked to a forward model mechanism which predicts the sensory consequences of self-generated actions and as a result discounts the respective sensory reafferences. As tactile suppression is also evident in passive hand movements, both predictive and postdictive mechanisms may be involved. However, its functional role is still widely unknown. It has been proposed that tactile suppression prevents sensory overload due to the large amount of afferent information generated during movement and therefore facilitates processing of external sensory events. However, if tactile feedback from the moving limb is needed to gain information, e.g. at the fingers involved in grasping, tactile sensitivity is less strongly reduced. In the talk, I will present recent results from a series of psychophysical experiments that show that tactile sensitivity is dynamically tuned to the needs of sensory feedback processing and is specific to the predicted sensory consequences of the movement.