Abstract:
The human eye continuously perceives information about surroundings to be processed
and stored in memory so that it can be retrieved. Environmental factors may have
positive and negative effects on memory performance and human cognitive processing.
Many studies have addressed the effect of auditory circumstances on spatial tasks and
visual memory performance. However, only a few studies highlighted the cross-modal
interaction between vision for visual cue and touch for training of same visual pattern in
tactile pattern. In addition, very little research has been conducted on the effect of tactile
stimulation towards memorizing visual tasks. The main objective of this study is to
investigate the effect of visuo-tactile stimulation on adult memory. Sixty-two subjects
participated in this behavioral study having normal and corrected to normal vision.
Participants are divided into two groups and each subject goes thorough Mini mental
state examination and Edinburg handedness inventory. The visual assessment task
consists of different shapes along with three-digit numbers. During the memorization
period, visual assessment task was displayed on computer screen and tactile stimulation
was delivered on index finger of the dominant hand of the participant. The participant
was provided with an evaluation sheet containing shapes only. If the shape is paired with
its corresponding number, then it was be considered correct. The p-value < 0.05 in visual
assessment test showed a significant effect of tactile stimulation on visual memory
performance. The findings of this study concluded that participants memorized the object
number pair task better in the presence of tactile stimulation as compared to control/no
stimulation. One of the conclusions of our work is that combing vision and touch sense
may improve cognitive ability and may be provided to people during learning and
remembering visual tasks. For future recommendations, heterogenous sample along with
brain response can be studied.
