Improvement of Touch Sensitivity by Pressing

Aversive Textures and Their Role in Food Rejection

10.31234/osf.io/quk2f ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Pellegrino ◽

Curtis Luckett

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Psychological Factors ◽

Sensory Attributes ◽

Prominent Feature ◽

Large Vocabulary ◽

Common Food ◽

Sensory Attribute ◽

Touch Sensitivity

Texture is a prominent feature in foods and consequently can be the reason a food is accepted or rejected. However, other sensory attributes, such as flavor/taste, aroma, sound and appearance may also lead to the rejection of food and motivations other than unpleasantness exist in unacceptance. To date, these motivations for food rejection have been studied in isolation and their relationships with psychological factors have not been tested. This study measured reasons people reject a food and probed into the specifics of texture rejection. A large U.S. sample (N=473) was asked to rate their motivations for rejecting a food, list foods that were disliked due to unpleasant sensory attributes, specify the unpleasant sensory attribute(s), and complete an assessment of general touch sensitivity. Results showed 94% of individuals reject a food due to its texture, a rate comparable to flavor-based rejection. Looking at the number of foods being rejected, flavor was the most common food attribute, followed by texture and then aroma. From a linguistic standpoint, aversive textures encompass a large vocabulary, larger than liked textures, and the same food may be rejected due to a single or combination of texture terms. Viscosity (e.g. slimy) and hardness (e.g. mushy) are the most common aversive texture types, but through cluster analysis subsets of individuals were identified that are more aversive to other textures. This study emphasizes the role of aversive textures in food rejection and provides many avenues for future investigations.

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Design and Experiment Using Flexible Bumps for Piezoelectric-Driven Hydraulically Amplified Braille Dot Display

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12070795 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 795

Author(s):

Xiaochao Tian ◽

Yuze Sun ◽

Zhiyao Li ◽

Hu Wang ◽

Zhicong Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Parameters ◽

Water Discharge ◽

Experimental Tests ◽

Output Displacement ◽

Amplification Ratio ◽

Fluid Resonance ◽

Piezoelectric Vibrator ◽

Flexible Film ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Sensitivity Standard

This paper describes the design of a piezoelectric-driven hydraulically amplified Braille-flexible bump device that enables the flexible formation of Braille characters. A piezoelectric vibrator is used to excite fluid resonance in a cavity, and displacement is realized by compressing the fluid, allowing Braille character dots to be formed. First, the structural design and working principle of the device, as well as the method used to drive the fluid, are explained. Expressions for the output displacement and amplification ratio of the flexible film and piezoelectric vibrator are then obtained through kinetic analysis of the system unit. Subsequently, the structural parameters that affect the output displacement and the liquid amplification are described. Finally, experimental tests of the system are explained. The results indicate that the output displacement of the contact formed by the flexible film reaches 0.214 mm, satisfying the requirements of the touch sensitivity standard for the blind, when the fluid cavity diameter measures 31 mm and the resonance frequency is 375.4 Hz. The corresponding water discharge is 8.8 mL. This study proves that constructing a Braille bump device in this way is both feasible and effective.

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Predicting human touch sensitivity to single atom substitutions in surface monolayers for molecular control in tactile interfaces

Soft Matter ◽

10.1039/d1sm00451d ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abigail Nolin ◽

Amanda Licht ◽

Kelly Pierson ◽

Chun-Yuan Lo ◽

Laure V. Kayser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Single Atom ◽

Materials Chemistry ◽

Molecular Control ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Human Touch ◽

Tactile Interfaces ◽

Surface Monolayers ◽

Sense Of Touch

We control the sense of touch through materials chemistry. To find tactile materials, we developed methods to screen materials and found that humans could distinguish surface monolayers which differed by a single atom substitution.

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Molecular correlates of neural network mediating touch sensitivity in

Neural Networks ◽

10.1016/0893-6080(88)90309-7 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 275 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shahid S. Siddiqui

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Touch Sensitivity

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Investigation of the touch sensitivity of ER fluid based tactile display

10.1117/12.598713 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yanju Liu ◽

Rob Davidson ◽

Paul Taylor

Keyword(s):

Tactile Display ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Er Fluid

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C. elegansparaoxonase-like proteins control the functional expression of DEG/ENaC mechanosensory proteins

10.1101/040337 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Yushu Chen ◽

Shashank Bharill ◽

Zeynep Altun ◽

Robert O'Hagan ◽

Brian Coblitz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽

Plasma Membrane ◽

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Cell Surface ◽

Functional Expression ◽

Similar Protein ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Additional Protein

Caenorhabditis eleganssenses gentle touch via a mechanotransduction channel formed from the DEG/ENaC proteins MEC-4 and MEC-10. An additional protein, the paraoxonase-like protein MEC-6, is essential for transduction, and previous work suggested that MEC-6 was part of the transduction complex. We found that MEC-6 and a similar protein, POML-1, reside primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum and do not colocalize with MEC-4 on the plasma membrane in vivo. As with MEC-6, POML-1 is needed for touch sensitivity, for the neurodegeneration caused by themec-4(d)mutation, and for the expression and distribution of MEC-4 in vivo. Both proteins are likely needed for the proper folding or assembly of MEC-4 channels in vivo as measured by FRET. MEC-6 detectably increases the rate of MEC-4 accumulation on theXenopusoocyte plasma membrane. These results suggest that MEC-6 and POML-1 interact with MEC-4 to facilitate expression and localization of MEC-4 on the cell surface. Thus, MEC-6 and POML-1 act more like chaperones for MEC-4 than channel components.

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Distinct roles for innexin gap junctions and hemichannels in mechanosensation

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.50597 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Denise S Walker ◽

William R Schafer

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Heterologous Expression ◽

Pain Perception ◽

Mechanosensory Transduction ◽

Wide Range ◽

Touch Receptor Neurons ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Range Of Functions ◽

Receptor Neurons ◽

And Control

Mechanosensation is central to a wide range of functions, including tactile and pain perception, hearing, proprioception, and control of blood pressure, but identifying the molecules underlying mechanotransduction has proved challenging. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the avoidance response to gentle body touch is mediated by six touch receptor neurons (TRNs), and is dependent on MEC-4, a DEG/ENaC channel. We show that hemichannels containing the innexin protein UNC-7 are also essential for gentle touch in the TRNs, as well as harsh touch in both the TRNs and the PVD nociceptors. UNC-7 and MEC-4 do not colocalize, suggesting that their roles in mechanosensory transduction are independent. Heterologous expression of unc-7 in touch-insensitive chemosensory neurons confers ectopic touch sensitivity, indicating a specific role for UNC-7 hemichannels in mechanosensation. The unc-7 touch defect can be rescued by the homologous mouse gene Panx1 gene, thus, innexin/pannexin proteins may play broadly conserved roles in neuronal mechanotransduction.

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Mechanoreceptors and touch

Sensory Transduction ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198835028.003.0005 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 76-98

Author(s):

Gordon L. Fain

Keyword(s):

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Molecular Biology ◽

Stretch Receptor ◽

Sensory Transduction ◽

Merkel Cells ◽

Anatomy And Physiology ◽

Crayfish Stretch Receptor ◽

Touch Sensitivity ◽

Round Worm ◽

Touch Sensation

“Mechanoreceptors and touch” is the fifth chapter of the book Sensory Transduction and describes general mechanisms of touch sensitivity in animals. It begins with a review of mechanoreception in the single-celled protozoan Paramecium and transduction of touch in the round worm Caenorhabditis elegans. A thorough treatment is next given of the crayfish stretch receptor and insect mechanoreceptors, including a description of NOMPC channels in Drosophila. The chapter then reviews the anatomy and physiology of mechanoreceptors and touch in mammals, both in glabrous and hairy skin. It concludes with recent discoveries of the molecular biology and physiology of Merkel cells, known to be responsible for much of mammalian touch sensation.

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