Perception of Simultaneous Tactile Stimuli in Normal Children

Abstract

Examination of 300 normal children from 3 to 15 years of age by the method of double simultaneous tactile stimulation revealed a consistent pattern of extinction and displacement of stimuli. The ability to identify and localize asymmetric simultaneous tactile stimuli develops gradually during the first decade of life, and was found to be present in 80% of normal children by the age of 8. Face dominance and hand extinction were consistently found in all subjects. The authors conclude that extinction and displacement of tactile stimuli, as well as face dominance, constitute a normal pattern of response in children. The difficulties in recognition of simultaneous tactile stimuli seen in children reappear in the same fashion in adult patients with focal or diffuse dysfunction of the brain.