Information-Processing Channels in the Tactile Sensory System addresses the fundamental question of whether sensory channels, similar to those known to operate in vision and audition, also operate in the sense of touch. Based on the results of psychophysical and neurophysiological experimentation the authors make a powerful case that channels operate in the processing of mechanical stimulation of the highly sensitive glabrous skin of the hand. According to the multichannel model presented in this monograph, each channel, with its specific type of mechanoreceptor and afferent nerve fiber, responds optiimally to particular aspects of the tactile stimulus. It is further proposed that the tactile perception of objects results from the combined activity of the individual tactile channels. This work is important because it provides researchers and students in the field of sensory neuroscience with a comprehensive model that enhances our understanding of tactile perception.

It has become accepted in the neuroscience community that perception and performance are quintessentially multisensory by nature. Using the full palette of modern brain imaging and neuroscience methods, The Neural Bases of Multisensory Processes details current understanding in the neural bases for these phenomena as studied across species, stages of development, and clinical statuses. Organized thematically into nine sub-sections, the book is a collection of contributions by leading scientists in the field. Chapters build generally from basic to applied, allowing readers to ascertain how fundamental science informs the clinical and applied sciences. Topics discussed include: Anatomy, essential for understanding the neural substrates of multisensory processing Neurophysiological bases and how multisensory stimuli can dramatically change the encoding processes for sensory information Combinatorial principles and modeling, focusing on efforts to gain a better mechanistic handle on multisensory operations and their network dynamics Development and plasticity Clinical manifestations and how perception and action are affected by altered sensory experience Attention and spatial representations The last sections of the book focus on naturalistic multisensory processes in three separate contexts: motion signals, multisensory contributions to the perception and generation of communication signals, and how the perception of flavor is generated. The text provides a solid introduction for newcomers and a strong overview of the current state of the field for experts.

Synthesizing coverage of sensation and reward into a comprehensive systems overview, Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward presents a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary approach to the interplay of sensory and reward processing in the brain. While over the past 70 years these areas have drifted apart, this book makes a case for reuniting sensation a

This Open Access book offers an original interdisciplinary overview of the role of haptic feedback in musical interaction. Divided into two parts, part I examines the tactile aspects of music performance and perception, discussing how they affect user experience and performance in terms of usability, functionality and perceived quality of musical instruments. Part II presents engineering, computational, and design approaches and guidelines that have been applied to render and exploit haptic feedback in digital musical interfaces. Musical Haptics introduces an emerging field that brings together engineering, human-computer interaction, applied psychology, musical aesthetics, and music performance. The latter, defined as the complex system of sensory-motor interactions between musicians and their instruments, presents a well-defined framework in which to study basic psychophysical, perceptual, and biomechanical aspects of touch, all of which will inform the design of haptic musical interfaces. Tactile and proprioceptive cues enable embodied interaction and inform sophisticated control strategies that allow skilled musicians to achieve high performance and expressivity. The use of haptic feedback in digital musical interfaces is expected to enhance user experience and performance, improve accessibility for disabled persons, and provide an effective means for musical tuition and guidance.

Simultaneous and Successive Cognitive Processes presents some innovative ideas for defining simultaneous and successive cognitive processes by choosing certain tasks that would elicit the use of coding and planning. Factor analysis is used to assess the organization of cognitive functions in terms of coding and planning. The book demonstrates how to isolate coding and planning processes by using a battery of tasks, and extends the approach to complex cognitive areas such as reading, word association, and sentence comprehension. Comprised of 11 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the evolution of the concept of intelligence and some notable workers in the field, including Cyril Burt, Raymond B. Cattell, Jean Piaget, and Jerome Kagan. The discussion then turns to learning theory and cognitive development as the basis for understanding intelligence. Subsequent chapters focus on intellectual functions in terms of the workings of the brain; simultaneous and successive cognitive processing in children; the relationship of simultaneous and successive coding to school achievement; and simultaneous and successive cognitive processing in children with mental retardation and learning disability. The results of cross-cultural studies on cognitive processes are also discussed, together with the link between language functions and cognitive processing. This monograph will be of interest to teachers, school administrators, and educational psychologists.