Abstract
The perception of reachability (i.e., whether an object is within reach) relies on body representations and action simulation. Similarly, egocentric distance estimation (i.e., the perception of the distance an object is from the self) is thought to be partly derived from embodied action simulation. Although motor simulation is important for both, it is unclear whether the cognitive processes underlying these behaviors rely on the same motor processes. To investigate this, we measured the impact of a motor interference dual-task paradigm on reachability judgment and egocentric distance estimation, while allocentric length estimation (i.e., how distant two stimuli are from each other independent from the self) was used as a control task. Participants were required to make concurrent actions with either hand actions of foam ball grip squeezing or arm actions of weight lifting, or no concurrent actions. Results showed that concurrent squeeze actions significantly slowed response speed in the reachability judgment and egocentric distance estimation tasks, but that there was no impact of the concurrent actions on allocentric length estimation. Together, these results suggest that reachability and distance perception, both egocentric perspective tasks, and in contrast to the allocentric perspective task, involve action simulation cognitive processes. The results are discussed in terms of the implication of action simulation when evaluating the position of a target relative to the observer’s body, supporting an embodied view of spatial cognition.
Highlights
Space perception arises from multimodal integration (Andersen et al, 1997)
A significant effect of the dual-task was only observed in the near distance category [F(2,34) = 7.3, p < 0.01, η2p = 0.30], and pairwise comparisons showed that the hand action condition was significantly different from the arm action and the no action conditions
As many findings show similarities between action execution and action simulation (Decety et al, 1989; Parsons, 1994; Hanakawa et al, 2008), an interference of action execution on action simulation and beyond it, on space processing, is expected. It is currently unclear if reachability judgment and egocentric distance estimation rely on the same body capability representations and action simulation processes
Summary
Some studies show that neurons are active for both tactile and visual stimulation within a delimited space surrounding and anchored to specific body parts (see Graziano et al, 1994; Gross and Graziano, 1995; Fadiga et al, 2000), while other studies indicate that space perception can be derived from sensorimotor processes, for example, in the discrimination of peripersonal space (i.e., portion of space within arm reach allowing manual interaction with objects) and extrapersonal space (i.e., space beyond reaching capacity; Rizzolatti et al, 1997, 2002; Gallese et al, 1999; Coello and Delevoye-Turrell, 2007; Gallese, 2007). Consistent with these arguments, it has been shown that the perception of reachable versus unreachable objects activates fronto-parietal networks (i.e., the precuneus and the parieto-occipital junction, the anterior parts of the cingulate gyrus and superior and medial frontal gyri, bilaterally) and the cerebellum, suggesting a contribution of dynamic motor representations facilitating the perceptive discrimination of peri- and extrapersonal spaces (Gallivan et al, 2009; Bartolo et al, 2014)
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