Human multisensory fusion of vision and touch: detecting non-linearity with small changes in the sensory environment.

Previous investigations using relatively large amplitude sensory stimuli or complete removal of sensory input have demonstrated non-linear processing of sensory information for postural control. In the present study, we asked whether a linear range of sensory fusion exists when smaller amplitude stimuli are used. The amplitudes of visual and somatosensory input were simultaneously co-varied within a trial. The postural responses were characterized by analyzing how the Fourier transform of postural sway at the driving frequency varied with sensory movement amplitudes. If the postural control system is linear with constant weighting of sensory inputs, then the pattern of Fourier transforms should be a linear function of movement amplitude. However, in 28 of 58 trials we observed non-linearity in this function. The results clearly show that even at very small amplitudes of sensory change, the nervous system processes multisensory information in a non-linear fashion.

Multisensory information for human postural control: integrating touch and vision.

Despite extensive research on the influence of visual, vestibular and somatosensory information on human postural control, it remains unclear how these sensory channels are fused for self-orientation. The focus of the present study was to test whether a linear additive model could account for the fusion of touch and vision for postural control. We simultaneously manipulated visual and somatosensory (touch) stimuli in five conditions of single- and multisensory stimulation. The visual stimulus was a display of random dots projected onto a screen in front of the standing subject. The somatosensory stimulus was a rigid plate which subjects contacted lightly (<1 N of force) with their right index fingertip. In each condition, one sensory stimulus oscillated (dynamic) in the medial-lateral direction while the other stimulus was either dynamic, static or absent. The results qualitatively supported five predictions of the linear additive model in that the patterns of gain and variability across conditions were consistent with model predictions. However, a strict quantitative comparison revealed significant deviations from model predictions, indicating that the sensory fusion process clearly has nonlinear aspects. We suggest that the sensory fusion process behaved in an approximately linear fashion because the experimental paradigm tested postural control very close to the equilibrium point of vertical upright.