Research Projects

Although visual and auditory cognition is well researched and better understood, relatively little is known about tactile cognition in general. It is perhaps unsurprising then that the majority of theoretical insights concerning the mechanisms and principles governing cognitions have been developed on the basis of the research on the visual and auditory systeMs. One should expect there to be a number of similarities and important differences between tactile cognition and cognitions that have been experienced via sight or hearing. Tactile cognition refers to the higher order processing and integration of tactile information through active touch. The aim of the present research will be to investigate the cerebral function for touch in Deaf adults. Confronted with the loss of one type of sensory input, we compensate using information conveyed by other senses. However, losing one type of sensory information at specific developmental times may lead to deficits across all sensory modalities. A crucial aim of this research will be to assess whether deaf adult, because of their restricted range of sensory input, showed any deviations from normal in their pattern for this sensory system. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI the present research will shed light on the above key question.