The syndrome of tactile defensiveness, first described by Ayres in 1964, has undergone continued study as well as related theory development. No standardized assessment for tactile defensiveness, however, currently exists. This paper presents a 26-item screening scale, the Touch Inventory for Elementary-School-Aged Children (TIE), as well as its psychometric characteristics. Normative data and ...

In the present paper, we will attempt to gain hints regarding the nature of tactile awareness in humans. At first, we will review some recent literature showing that an actual tactile experience can emerge in absence of any tactile stimulus (e.g., tactile hallucinations, tactile illusions). According to the current model of tactile awareness, we will subsequently argue that such (false) tactile...

Tactile memory is the crucial factor in coding and transfer of the semantic information through a single vibrator. While some simulators can produce strong vibro-tactile sensations, discrimination of several tactile patterns can remain quite poor. Currently used actuators, such as shaking motor, have also technological and methodological restrictions. We designed a vibro-tactile pen and softwar...

PURPOSE Tactile deficits have been understudied in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) using a limited range of tactile assessments. This study aims to characterize performance across a comprehensive battery of tactile registration and perception assessments in children with UCP and typically developing children (TDC). METHODS Fifty-two children with UCP (Gross Motor Function Classi...

Tactile feedback from a remotely controlled robotic arm can facilitate certain tasks by enabling the user to experience tactile or force sensations from the robot's interaction with the environment. However, equipping both the robot and the user with tactile sensing and feedback systems can be complex, expensive, restrictive and application specific. This paper introduces a new tele-operation h...

Mammals use tactile end-organs to perform sensory tasks such as environmental exploration, social interaction, and tactile discrimination. However, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying tactile transduction in tactile end-organs remain poorly understood. The patch-clamp recording technique may be the most valuable approach for detecting and studying tactile transduction in tactile end-or...