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Emotional visual stimuli affect the evaluation of tactile stimuli presented on the arms but not the related electrodermal responses

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Abstract

Considering the wealth of recent studies on affective touch, to date, little research addressed the role of the other sensory modalities in the modulation of hedonic tactile perception. Here, we investigated the behavioral and electrodermal signature of the interaction between simultaneously presented visual and tactile stimuli. In three experiments, participants were presented with emotional pictures (international affective picture system; IAPS), while their forearm was gently stroked by means of different tactile textures (i.e., sandpaper, satin, tinfoil, abrasive sponge, and skin-to-skin contact). In Experiment 1, the participants evaluated the pleasantness of the tactile stimulation received, while in Experiment 2 they evaluated the pictures emotional valence. In Experiment 3 the participants rated the pleasantness, the smoothness and the softness of the textures; skin conductance responses (SCRs) were also measured. In sum, the results revealed that while the visual valence ratings were not modulated by the tactile stimulation, the hedonic and sensory tactile ratings were modulated by the visual presentation of both positively and negatively valenced pictures, as well as by neutral pictures. The modulatory effects occurring during visuo-tactile interactions might thus be not necessarily reciprocal. Moreover, the SCRs were not differently affected by the visuo-tactile or tactile conditions of stimulus presentation, suggesting a dissociation between behavioral and electrodermal effects in multisensory interactions.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Clara Piliego for help with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMI), University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126, Milan, Italy

    Roberta Etzi & Alberto Gallace

  2. CIMeC, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy

    Massimiliano Zampini

  3. Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy

    Massimiliano Zampini

  4. ImpAct Team, U1028, INSERM, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Lyon, France

    Georgiana Juravle

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  1. Roberta Etzi
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Correspondence to Roberta Etzi.

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Etzi, R., Zampini, M., Juravle, G. et al. Emotional visual stimuli affect the evaluation of tactile stimuli presented on the arms but not the related electrodermal responses. Exp Brain Res 236, 3391–3403 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5386-0

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