Role of gravitation in solving a haptic comparison problem

The effect of haptic perception-reproduction task performed by means of a force feedback handle was studied under ground-based conditions and on board an orbital station. In contrast to visual perception, which exhibits a pronounced domination of vertically and horizontally oriented stimuli in such experiments, haptic perception did not display a dependence of responses on the tilt of the reference stimulus in the presence or absence of gravity. Thus, when solving a purely haptic problem, the CNS uses only proprioception, even in the presence of gravitation.