Ref She Feels Noise!

[byronselorme]

Here was an interesting article about a woman who could feel noise after her stroke

(Medical Xpress) -- A case of a 36-year-old woman who began to literally 'feel' noise about a year and a half after suffering a stroke sparked a new research project by neuroscientist Tony Ro from the City College of New York and the Graduate Center of the City University. Research and imagery of the brain revealed that a link had grown between the woman’s auditory region and the somatosensory region, essentially connecting her hearing to her touch sensation.

Ro and his team presented the findings at the Acoustical Society of America’s meeting on May 25. They pointed out that both hearing and touch rely on vibrations and that this connection may be found in the rest of us as well.
Another researcher and neuroscientist Elizabeth Courtenay Wilson from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston agrees that there is a strong connection between the two. Her team believes that the ear evolved from skin in order to create a more finely tuned frequency analysis. She earned her PhD from MIT with a study on whether vibrations could help hearing aid performance. Her studies showed that individuals with normal hearing were better able to detect a weak sound when it was accompanied by a weak vibration to the skin.
Ro himself published another paper in Experimental Brain Research in 2009 focusing on what he calls the mosquito effect. Those pesky little bugs sound frequency makes our skin prickle and he believes that in order for this to work the frequency of sound must match the frequency of the vibrations we feel.
Functional MRI scans of the brain have revealed that the auditory region of the brain can become activated by a touch. It is believed by some researchers that areas of the brain that are designed to understand frequency may be responsible for this wire crossing, though they are not yet sure exactly where the two senses come together.

More information: Sound enhances touch perception, Tony Ro et al., Experimental Brain Research Volume 195, Number 1, 135-143, DOI:

[joebrence9]

Nice post. I did a google scholar search on Tony Ro to find some other papers and he's done a remarkable amount of quality work on the senses. The paper you quote, actually gives a great example in the first line of something we can ALL feel by just THINKING about the sound and that is "fingernails on a chalkboard", whose sound has a strong association with somatosensory perceptions.

The study design used by Ro is fascinating to me. I state this due to him combining three different experimental paradigms before drawing a conclusion which is admirable (he could have been published 3 times to build up his CV).

I attached the study if anyone is interested in checking it out.

[Barrett Dorko]

Good stuff.

I think this thread speaks to our sense of hearing as well.

[byronselorme]

Gees Barrett,

Whenever I go through all those threads I find references to things that I have found so interesting all along. It makes this place seem more like home everyday.

I just read Jonah Lehrer's "Proust was a neuroscientist" and he discussed Stravinsky's "rite of spring" and Walt Whitman's work.

I had watched a television program in my teens on Temple Grande and Oliver Sacks is one of my favourite writers.

This article above is interesting to me for this line

Her team believes that the ear evolved from skin in order to create a more finely tuned frequency analysis

That is just too cool.

[byronselorme]

Hi Joebrence9,

Thanks for linking that study.

One thing I would like to improve is my ability to analyze studies. The most I have learned on my own has come from Snake Oil Science which was a great start, but I have a ways to go to be able to disect them better.

[Clark]

I had a neuroscience professor at Washington State University who gave a lecture on this "condition"- not that I would consider it a pathology by any means. Of course I looked through my computer and couldn't find any notes from that class, sorry. I learned it as "synesthesia," and we studied multiple cases of individuals who are basically cross-wired. Their visual input sometimes creates a taste, or certain sound frequencies create the illusion of a color. I think these cases support lateralization of function and also the possibility of differential stem cell growth during brain formation. It is fascinating stuff.

[BB]

Google "ramachandran" and "synesthesia" for a treasure chest on this.

[Clark]

[/QUOTE]One thing I would like to improve is my ability to analyze studies. The most I have learned on my own has come from Snake Oil Science which was a great start, but I have a ways to go to be able to disect them better.[/QUOTE]

One thing that has really helped me is taking a few classes that focus on statistical analysis. Once I felt comfortable with research design and analysis, reading through studies became 10x easier. I'm sure you could even audit them at most universities- it's pretty cheap that way I believe. If you do decide to do it, just remember- statistics text books are truly best absorbed when accompanied by a cold beer.

[byronselorme]

Well I do remember taking a few Sadistics classes in College.

I hadn't thought of auditing a class. Great idea.

From what I also remember from College, beer was a terrible study aid. I ran that experiment enough times to the same conclusion

[Karen L]

I was looking for the Temple Grandin threads but am not seeing them right now. I just found this cool video on an autistic girl who has found a method of communication. The interview is highly crafted by the editors for tv, but if it is a true account of her struggle, then her statements about the sensory struggles are extraordinary. I believe Temple also expressed her experience was of picture after picture like a movie running through her head.

Carly Fleischmann:

Karen

[Diane]

Carly has a facebook page and thousands of followers. She is becoming quite the autism advocate.

[Kyle Ridgeway]

Pretty interesting Ted Talk about a color blind man, who now hears color.

[Kyle Ridgeway]

Also, is there a way to imbed Ted Talks or only You Tube videos? I am familiar with the TV screen icon, but that didn't seem to work for the Ted Talk??

[byronselorme]

You can find most Ted's on YouTube

[Kyle Ridgeway]

I never knew that! I guess if I looked, I would have known. Thank you!