On the Extension of Peripersonal Space: Remote Tool Use and Multisensory Integration

• Main Authors: Jyh-Jong Hsieh, 謝至中
• Other Authors: Wen-Jui Kuo
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/76092207199746245483

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 神經科學研究所 === 99 === Previous studies reported that tool-use can induce extension of peripersonal space (EPS), as evidenced by a dynamic, effector-centered congruency effect between visual and tactile perception whose pattern alternated depending on the way the tools were held. We suspect that the effector-centered EPS induced by tool-use may be a special case of temporal synchronization between one’s actions and consequential environmental events. EPS may still occur without physical contact between the effector and its acting site. We verified the viability of a visual-tactile congruency task in Experiment 1, which required location discrimination of brief tactile vibrations accompanied by visual flashes on a virtual object which participants could move synchronously and remotely. We found that the EPS could be induced when the physical connection was removed in Experiment 2 and 3. The results of Experiment 2 also implied that the familiarity of tool may influence the strength of EPS. In Experiment 3 and 4, we compared the EPS on the right hand and left hand, which have different familiarities with computer mouse-use, while the mouse was used actively, held passively, or not held at all. We found the EPS occurred only when the tool was used actively, but was not different between the two hands. To examine the sufficiency of temporal synchronization in EPS, in Experiment 5 we interfered with the spatial alignment and tried to make the temporal synchronization the only salient correspondence between tool and hand. The results showed that the temporal synchronization by itself may not be sufficient to induce the EPS. The spatial alignment may also play a crucial role. Taken together, these experiments suggest that the peripersonal space can extend to a remote tool only when the tool was used actively, and the familiarity and spatial alignment may affect the extension of peripersonal space.