Reflection No. 6: My Favorite Perception Topic

The most striking topic I learned in Perception is how the brain maps itself as it relates to tonotopic, retinotopic and somatotopic mapping. Of those forms of mapping, somatotopic mapping to me stands out the most.

I have always had a fascination with touch physiology when it comes to the subject of perception because, as a musician and board certified-music therapist, I not only play instruments, but I have severe to profound hearing loss, binaurally. Wearing hearing aids every day helps me hear some of the high frequency speech and music sounds I am missing from when I was a premature infant, but I think some aspects of touch plays a role in working in tandem with the assistance that my hearing devices provide.

For example, when I play guitar my hearing devices, along with the residual hearing I still have, plays a role in letting me know whether the tone quality of a string I am plucking or pressing down on the fingerboard will sound musically palatable or buzz, but my touch sensitivity in my fingers when plucking and pressing down the strings on the fingerboard also plays a role in providing the necessary feedback. I do not necessarily have to hear whether the string I am plucking or pressing down is going to sound good or buzz. I can already tell sometimes based on how I am plucking the string or pressing it down through my finger’s touch sensitivity whether the notes are going to sound good or buzz.

In the area of the homunculus of the somatotopic map that is responsible for receiving input on the sensation felt in my fingers, that there might be a set of neurons that have been strengthened from years of playing guitar since I was eleven that can relay to my brain whether the sensation in my fingers is just right enough to inform me whether the sound I am making will have a nice tone.