Abstract
The current study aims at identifying how lateralized multisensory spatial information processing affects response monitoring and action control. In a previous study, we investigated multimodal sensory integration in response monitoring processes using a Simon task. Behavioral and neurophysiologic results suggested that different aspects of response monitoring are asymmetrically and independently allocated to the hemispheres: while efference-copy-based information on the motor execution of the task is further processed in the hemisphere that originally generated the motor command, proprioception-based spatial information is processed in the hemisphere contralateral to the effector. Hence, crossing hands (entering a “foreign” spatial hemifield) yielded an augmented bilateral activation during response monitoring since these two kinds of information were processed in opposing hemispheres. Because the traditional Simon task does not provide the possibility to investigate which aspect of the spatial configuration leads to the observed hemispheric allocation, we introduced a new “double crossed” condition that allows for the dissociation of internal/physiological and external/physical influences on response monitoring processes. Comparing behavioral and neurophysiologic measures of this new condition to those of the traditional Simon task setup, we could demonstrate that the egocentric representation of the physiological effector's spatial location accounts for the observed lateralization of spatial information in action control. The finding that the location of the physical effector had a very small influence on response monitoring measures suggests that this aspect is either less important and/or processed in different brain areas than egocentric physiological information.
Highlights
In order to adequately interact with our environment, we constantly monitor our actions so that we can adjust them in case of undesired consequences (Logan, 1985; Stuss and Alexander, 2007; Fukui and Gomi, 2012)
The results suggest that the spatial location of the physiologic effectors accounts for the largest part of the observed changes in the hemispheric allocation of spatial information during response monitoring
In order to elucidate the rationale behind this interpretation, we would like to explain the theoretical background of our experimental manipulation: the basic assumption behind the additional factor“button type”is that“each hemisphere preferentially processes and integrates the contralateral egocentric and allocentric spatial information” (Zhou et al, 2012)
Summary
In order to adequately interact with our environment, we constantly monitor our actions so that we can adjust them in case of undesired consequences (Logan, 1985; Stuss and Alexander, 2007; Fukui and Gomi, 2012). We recently investigated the effects of multimodal sensory integration in response monitoring processes by recording an EEG during a Simon task (see Stock et al, 2013 for details) and demonstrated that both proprioception-based spatial information and efference-copy-based information on the motor execution are integrated in the supplementary motor area (SMA) during response monitoring and evaluation. The simple act of crossing one hand one over another reduced most of the differences in hemispheric activation/ERPs as the activity pattern of the hemisphere ipsilateral to the responding hand approximated that of the contralateral hemisphere This suggests that in case of an unnatural posture (crossed hands) motor efference copies and motor proprioceptive information were allocated to the hemispheres according to different rules: efference-copy-based motor information seemed to be rather immutably locked to the hemisphere in which the motor command was initially processed. As a result of these different lateralization mechanisms, crossing hands www.frontiersin.org
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