道具とそれを用いた接触面の知覚に対する麻痺の影響について

Selective perception of tools and contact surfaces with paralyzed limbs

要旨：本研究では，道具の性質の触知覚および道具によって探られる対象の性質の触知覚に麻痺が与える影響について検討した．頚髄損傷者5名と健常者6名を対象に，視覚的に遮蔽された状態で，道具の長さと，その道具を打ち付けた接触面までの距離について知覚判断させた．分散分析から，健常者では，道具の長さと長さのタスクおよび接触面までの距離と距離のタスクにおいて単純主効果が有意であった．しかし頚髄損傷者では，道具の長さと距離のタスクにおいても有意な単純主効果が生じていた．このことは，タスクに関係する性質を選択的に知覚する能力が，神経障害の有無に影響を受けることを示唆する．

　We investigated whether patients with paralyzed limbs could perceive the properties of grasped tools and objects probed with them. 5 patients with spinal cord injuries and 6 healthy subjects participated in the experiment and were instructed to probe target-walls with the rods without seeing them, and report either the length of the rods or the distance to the wall. In both the healthy group and the patients group, ANOVA revealed significant simple effects of tool-length and length-report tasks, and of distance-to-wall and distance-report-tasks, although it was only in the patients group that significant simple main effects of tool-length and distance-report-tasks were found. These results suggest that selective attention to task-relevant properties could be affected by impairment in the nervous system.