scholarly journals Seeing the body produces limb-specific modulation of skin temperature

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 20140157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Sadibolova ◽  
Matthew R. Longo

Vision of the body, even when non-informative about stimulation, affects somatosensory processing. We investigated whether seeing the body also modulates autonomic control in the periphery by measuring skin temperature while manipulating vision. Using a mirror box, the skin temperature was measured from left hand dorsum while participants: (i) had the illusion of seeing their left hand, (ii) had the illusion of seeing an object at the same location or (iii) looked directly at their contralateral right hand. Skin temperature of the left hand increased when participants had the illusion of directly seeing that hand but not in the other two view conditions. In experiment 2, participants viewed directly their left or right hand, or the box while we recorded both hand dorsum temperatures. Temperature increased in the viewed hand but not the contralateral hand. These results show that seeing the body produces limb-specific modulation of thermal regulation.

1930 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-141
Author(s):  
J. D. Beazley

Miss Hutton's valuable article on the archaistic reliefs in Oxford contains two errors, which may as well be corrected at once. The first was pointed out to me by Mr. W. H. Buckler. Of the left-hand nymph in the representation of Pan teased, Miss Hutton writes that the artist ‘twisted the upper portion of her body round into a three-quarters frontal position, which he balanced by flinging the right arm back to fill the empty space behind the body. There is therefore no physical contact between the first nymph and Pan.’ As a matter of fact she was grasping the end of Pan's leopard-skin with her right hand, just as in the other reliefs with the same subject, and swinging not her right but her left arm back.The second slip is in the account of the Rhodian nymph relief. According to Miss Hutton, ‘the whole surface has been so much rubbed down to conceal damage that the right-hand figure, whose heavy peplos had originally a pleated kolpos with swallow-tail points, appears to be clad in a transparent veil over an equally transparent tunic.’


Author(s):  
Cathy Curtis

In 1942, at age twenty, after a vision-impaired and rebellious childhood in Richmond, Virginia, Nell Blaine decamped for New York. Operations had corrected her eyesight, and she was newly aware of modern art, so different from the literal style of her youthful drawings. In Manhattan, she met rising young artists and poets. Her life was hectic, with raucous parties in her loft, lovers of both sexes, and freelance design jobs, including a stint at the Village Voice. Initially drawn to the rigorous formalism of Piet Mondrian, she received critical praise for her jazzy abstractions. During the 1950s, she began to paint interiors and landscapes. By 1959, when the Whitney Museum purchased one of her paintings, her career was firmly established. That year, she contracted a severe form of polio on a trip to Greece; suddenly, she was a paraplegic. Undaunted, she taught herself to paint in oil with her left hand, reserving her right hand for watercolors. In her postpolio work, she achieved a freer style, expressive of the joy she found in flowers and landscapes. Living half the year in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the other half in New York, she took special delight in painting the views from her windows and from her country garden. Critics found her new style irresistible, and she had a loyal circle of collectors; still, she struggled to earn enough money to pay the aides who made her life possible. At her side for her final twenty-nine years was her lover, painter Carolyn Harris.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 729-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Woytowicz ◽  
Kelly P. Westlake ◽  
Jill Whitall ◽  
Robert L. Sainburg

Two contrasting views of handedness can be described as 1) complementary dominance, in which each hemisphere is specialized for different aspects of motor control, and 2) global dominance, in which the hemisphere contralateral to the dominant arm is specialized for all aspects of motor control. The present study sought to determine which motor lateralization hypothesis best predicts motor performance during common bilateral task of stabilizing an object (e.g., bread) with one hand while applying forces to the object (e.g., slicing) using the other hand. We designed an experimental equivalent of this task, performed in a virtual environment with the unseen arms supported by frictionless air-sleds. The hands were connected by a spring, and the task was to maintain the position of one hand while moving the other hand to a target. Thus the reaching hand was required to take account of the spring load to make smooth and accurate trajectories, while the stabilizer hand was required to impede the spring load to keep a constant position. Right-handed subjects performed two task sessions (right-hand reach and left-hand stabilize; left-hand reach and right-hand stabilize) with the order of the sessions counterbalanced between groups. Our results indicate a hand by task-component interaction such that the right hand showed straighter reaching performance whereas the left hand showed more stable holding performance. These findings provide support for the complementary dominance hypothesis and suggest that the specializations of each cerebral hemisphere for impedance and dynamic control mechanisms are expressed during bilateral interactive tasks. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We provide evidence for interlimb differences in bilateral coordination of reaching and stabilizing functions, demonstrating an advantage for the dominant and nondominant arms for distinct features of control. These results provide the first evidence for complementary specializations of each limb-hemisphere system for different aspects of control within the context of a complementary bilateral task.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill A. Dosso ◽  
Romeo Chua ◽  
Daniel J. Weeks ◽  
David J. Turk ◽  
Alan Kingstone

Each cerebral hemisphere primarily controls and receives sensory input with regard to the contralateral hand. In the disconnected brain (split-brain), when the hands are uncrossed, direct visual access to each hand is available to the controlling (contralateral) hemisphere. However, when a hand crosses the midline, visual and tactile information regarding the hand are presented to different hemispheres. It is unknown how a contralateral hemi- sphere codes the position and orientation of a visually inaccessible hand in the discon- nected brain. The present work addresses this issue. We ask how each hemisphere represents “its” hand across hand positions that span the midline in the absence of cortical input from the contralateral hemisphere. In other words, when a hand is placed across the midline and is visually inaccessible, is it represented by the controlling hemisphere: (1) in accordance with its new position with respect to the body (e.g., a left hand “becomes” a right effector when it crosses the midline), (2) with left/right position information unal- tered (e.g., the left hand is represented as “left” regardless of its location), or (3) stripped of its location information altogether? The relationship between hand position and the spatial codes assigned to potential responses (an index of hand representation) was investigated in two split-brain patients using direct (Experiment 1) and orthogonal (Experiment 2) S-R compatibility paradigms. S-R compatibility effects in split-brain patients were consistent with those displayed by typical individuals. These findings suggest that position-based compatibility effects do not rely on cross-cortical connections. Rather, each hemisphere can accurately represent the full visuomotor space, a process that appears to be subserved by subcortical connections between the hemispheres.


Tempo ◽  
1991 ◽  
pp. 18-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Montague

In the early 1920s and 30s a strange electronic instrument found its way from Russia into some of the more fashionable ballrooms, night clubs, and concert halls in Europe and America. This exotic new invention, called the ‘theremin’ or ‘thereminvox’, caused a considerable stir. Part of the interest was its unusual sound (like a musical saw mated with a light soprano), but its most dramatic feature was that the performer never actually touched the instrument. He or she simply waved graceful hands near the two antennae (one set vertically, the other looped horizontally) to coax out seamless, melifluous melodies. The proximity of the right hand to the vertical antenna changed the ultrasonic electromagnetic field, thus changing the pitch over about a six-octave range. The left hand (or sometimes a foot pedal) controlled the volume. By gently shaking the right hand at the antenna a vibrato could be achieved, giving performances a little more musical (not to mention choreographic) interest. Fashionable women dressed in long gowns seemed to be favourite photographic subjects of the period as performers, as well as the inventor himself, poised ‘playing the rods’ in full dress tails, arms outstretched like a great conductor–or perhaps sorcerer.


Archaeologia ◽  
1853 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-193
Author(s):  
John Yonge Akerman

With the exception of Figs. 1, 2, 3, the Gold Ornaments engraved in Plate VIII. have no reference whatever to each other. The first three were obtained by Viscount Strangford, Director of the Society, from a Greek priest at Milo, in the year 1820. Figs. 1 and 3 appear to have formed the ends of a light chain, and the other (fig. 2) to have been pendent by a small loop on the top of the head. The figure has unfortunately lost the feet and the left hand, but the other parts are perfect. The right hand is raised in an admonitory attitude. The forehead appears as if encircled with a wreath, while the body is crossed by what would seem to be intended for the tendril of a vine. The necklace was formerly in the collection of the late Mr. H. P. Borrell, of Smyrna, but I am informed by his brother, Mr. Maximilian Borrell, who now possesses it, that no record exists of its discovery, and that he cannot learn the name of the individual from whom it was purchased. It was well known that Mr. H. P. Borrell was in the habit of purchasing ancient coins, which were sent to him from all parts of Greece and Asia-Minor, and that many rare and unique specimens fell into his hands, of which he contributed descriptions in various volumes of the Numismatic Chronicle. The necklace may, therefore, have been included in one of these numerous consignments, and we can scarcely indulge the hope that the place of its discovery will ever be made known. As an example of ancient art, it may vie with the most elaborate and beautiful specimens of goldsmiths' work of any age or period. The details are wonderfully minute and delicate, even the backs of the button-like objects at the ends of the pendent cords being elaborately finished.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Kandwal ◽  
Zedong Nie ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Louis W. Y. Liu ◽  
Ranjan Das

This paper proposes an efficient transmission line modulation by using the bending technique to realize low profile leaky wave antennas in the Ku-band for frequency scanning and sensor applications. The paper focuses mainly on the bending effects of the transmission line in terms of the sharpness of edges. The right-hand/left-hand transmission line can be designed in the form of zig-zag pattern with sharp corners and only the right-hand transmission line in the form of sinusoidal patterns with smooth corners. In this presentation, we demonstrate that transmission lines of this kind can be used to realize highly efficient leaky wave antennas with broadband impedance matching and high gain characteristics in the Ku-band. Dispersion analysis and ladder network analysis have been performed for investigating the performance of the proposed designs. The sharpness of the bends periodically distributed along the body of the antenna has been used to our advantage for frequency scanning in the left-hand and right-hand quadrants at different frequencies. The proposed bending technique has been proven to be instrumental in achieving the desired characteristics of low profile leaky wave antennas.


1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Guiard

An experiment compared the ability of classical pianists to sing, during keyboard performance, the right- and the left-hand part of the score being played. Upon instructions requiring them to "sing" one or the other voice of the score, the subjects spontaneously chose to sing and name the notes simultaneously, in keeping with the French traditional way of reading music, thus producing a two- dimensional tonal and verbal vocal act in response to each visual stimulus. Singing the right-hand part of the music, whether in unison with or in place of the right hand, while concurrently playing the left-hand part was judged easy by all subjects, and performance, typically, was correct in all respects. The other task, consisting of singing the left-hand part of the music, was judged more difficult by all subjects, and performance, more often than not, was poor. Careful inspection of the many errors that were recorded in the latter task revealed a few clear-cut regularities. Failures were vocal, but not manual. More specifically, vocal failures took place on the tonal dimension of the vocal response, but not on its verbal dimension: The song, but not the naming of the notes, was prone to fail, with either a loss of the pitch, or a systematic trend toward singing unduly—albeit accurately—the notes of the right-hand part. A number of subjects were found to display this intriguing tonal/verbal dissociation—naming a note at a pitch corresponding to another note—in a continuous regime. It is emphasized that this phenomenon amounts to the spontaneous production of musical events that belong to the Stroop category.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 491-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinya Fujii ◽  
Masaya Hirashima ◽  
Kazutoshi Kudo ◽  
Tatsuyuki Ohtsuki ◽  
Yoshihiko Nakamura ◽  
...  

the present study examined the synchronization error (SE) of drum kit playing by professional drummers with an auditory metronome, focusing on the effects of motor effectors and tempi. Fifteen professional drummers attempted to synchronize a basic drumming pattern with a metronome as precisely as possible at tempi of 60, 120, and 200 beats per minute (bpm). In the 60 and 120 bpm conditions, the right hand (high-hat cymbals) showed small mean SE (∼2 ms), whereas the left hand (snare drum) and right foot (bass drum) preceded the metronome by about 10 ms. In the 200 bpm condition, the right hand was delayed by about 10 ms relative to the metronome, whereas the left hand and right foot showed small SE (∼1 ms). The absolute values of SE were smaller than those reported in previous tapping studies. In addition, the time series of SE were significantly correlated across the motor effectors, suggesting that each limb synchronized in relation to the other limbs rather than independently with the metronome.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1431-C1431
Author(s):  
Yasunari Watanabe

"There are two important aperiodic tiling methods. One is a projection method and the other is self-similar substitution method. Author applied projection and substitution method to several quasi-periodic tiling [1a] [1b] [1c] [2a] [2b] [2c]. Quantity of the information for research of aperiodic tiling except quasi-periodic tiling is not so large as that of quasi-periodic tiling. Author shows one of the substitution example. that is a ""pentomino tile"" which is made of five unit squares. First generation of a ""pentomino tile"" is composed of two original pentominos and chiral two original pentominos [3]. Author considered 3D solid body unit similar to exterior view of car-body as shown in figure, then succeeded in first generation tile using the body unit. In this study, author consider a relation between substitution and crystallographic rotation matrix and translation matrix and discuss general formulation of self-similar substitution. Caption of Figure: (left-hand) original generation, (center) First generation, (right-hand) Second generation"


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