Perceptual Uncertainty

The number of the distinct tactile percepts exceeds the number of receptor types in the skin, signifying that perception cannot be explained by a one-to-one mapping from a single receptor channel to a corresponding percept. The abundance of touch experiences results from multiplexing (the coexistence of multiple codes within a single channel, increasing the available information content of that channel) and from the mixture of receptor channels by divergence and convergence. When a neuronal representation emerges through the combination of receptor channels, perceptual uncertainty can occur—a perceptual judgment is affected by a stimulus feature that would be, ideally, excluded from the task. Though uncertainty seems at first glance to reflect nonoptimality in sensory processing, it is actually a consequence of efficient coding mechanisms that exploit prior knowledge about objects that are touched. Studies that analyze how perceptual judgments are “fooled” by variations in sensory input can reveal the neuronal mechanisms underlying the tactile experience.