It is well known that as we age, our senses decline (e.g. vision, hearing, balance). What is lesser known is that our sense of touch can also deteriorate as we get older.
The main aim of this project is to characterise the variability in tactile sensitivity and haptic object perception associated with ageing.
To do so, we are measuring the sense of touch from low-level sensitivity to high-level object perception using previously validated psychophysical behavioural methods. Our approach is to measure the sense of touch in a healthy sample of young and older adults.
A secondary aim of this study is to assess the adaptability of the tactile system and the extent to which haptic object perception benefits from predictive knowledge or cross-sensory inputs in older age.
