The cognitive and neural correlates of tactile memory.

Full Abstract

Tactile memory systems are involved in the storage and retrieval of information about stimuli that impinge on the body surface and objects that people explore haptically. Here, the authors review the behavioral, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging research on tactile memory. This body of research reveals that tactile memory can be subdivided into a number of functionally distinct neurocognitive subsystems, just as is the case with auditory and visual memory. Some of these subsystems are peripheral and short lasting and others are more central and long lasting. The authors highlight evidence showing that the representation of tactile information interacts with information about other sensory attributes (e.g., visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic) of objects/events that people perceive. This fact suggests that at least part of the neural network involved in the memory for touch might be shared among different sensory modalities. In particular, multisensory/amodal information-processing networks seem to play a leading role in the storage of tactile information in the brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Author information

Author/s: Gallace, Alberto (A); Spence, Charles (C);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. alberto.gallace1(-atsign-)unimib.it

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Psychological bulletin (Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-May; vol 135 (issue 3) : pp 380-406

Dates: Created 2009/04/21; Completed 2009/06/24;

PMID: 19379022, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/24/2009, IMS Date: 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.