Temporal interaction between electrocutaneous stimuli.

Abstract

The effect of a rectangular electrocultaneous conditioning shock upon the absolute threshold for a subsequent test shock to the same locus was measured by the method of limits. Time between conditioning and test stimuli and intensity of the former were parameters. The conditioning shock raises the threshold for the test shock; this "inhibitory" effect increases with stronger conditioning shocks and with shorter times between the 2 stimuli. The effect is more striking than similar inhibitory phenomena which occur when conditioning and test stimuli impinge upon different cutaneous loci. These findings suggest one mechanism for explaining Bekesy''s observation that subjective vibratory pitch may drop with increased frequency or intensity of repetitive stimulation.