Irrelevant Visual Stimuli Research Articles

Spontaneous eye blinking during an auditory, an interoceptive and a visual task: The role of the sensory modality and the attentional focus

Previous evidence suggested that spontaneous eye blinking changes as a function of the attentional focus. In particular, eye blink rate (EBR) tends to increase when attention is directed to internal versus environmental processing. Most studies on this issue compared eye blinking during visual and mental imagery tasks, and interpreted the increase in EBR as a mechanism to focus cognitive resources on internal processing by disengaging attention from interfering information. However, since eye blinking also depends on the sensory modality of the task, the findings might be influenced by a modality-specific effect.In the present Registered Report we aim at investigating whether the environmental versus internal attentional focus can affect spontaneous blinking behaviour in non-visual tasks as well, in conditions where visual stimuli are not relevant. In a within-subject design, healthy participants performed an interoceptive task (i.e., heartbeat counting) and an auditory task in which pre-recorded heartbeats were presented aurally; during both tasks irrelevant visual stimuli were also presented. In a further control condition with the same auditory and visual stimuli, the participants were required to focus their attention on visual stimuli. Participants' EBR was recorded during each task by means of an eye-tracking system.We found that, although the interoceptive task was more difficult than the auditory and visual tasks, participants' EBR decreased by a comparable level in all tasks with respect to a rest condition, with no differences between internal versus environmental conditions. The present findings do not support the idea that EBR is modulated by an internal versus external focus of attention, at least in presence of controlled visual stimulation.

How do irrelevant stimuli from another modality influence responses to the targets in a same-different task

It remains unclear whether multisensory interaction can implicitly occur at the abstract level. To address this issue, a same-different task was used to select comparable images and sounds in Experiment 1. Then, the stimuli with various levels of discrimination difficulty were adopted in a modified same-different task in Experiments 2, 3, and 4. The resultsshowed that only when the irrelevant stimuli were easily distinguishable, aconsistency effectcould beobservedin the testing phase. Moreover, when easily distinguishableirrelevant stimuliwere simultaneously presented with difficulttarget stimuli, irrelevant auditorystimuli facilitated responses to visual targets whereas irrelevant visual stimuli interfered with responses to auditorytargetsin the training phase,indicating an asymmetry in the role of visual and auditory in abstract multisensory integration. The results suggested that abstract multisensory information could be implicitly integrated and the inverse effectiveness principle might not apply to high-level processing of abstract multisensory integration.

Attention driven phantom vision: measuring the sensory strength of attentional templates and their relation to visual mental imagery and aphantasia.

When we search for an object in an array or anticipate attending to a future object, we create an 'attentional template' of the object. The definitions of attentional templates and visual imagery share many similarities as well as many of the same neural characteristics. However, the phenomenology of these attentional templates and their neural similarities to visual imagery and perception are rarely, if ever discussed. Here, we investigate the relationship between these two forms of non-retinal phantom vision through the use of the binocular rivalry technique, which allows us to measure the sensory strength of attentional templates in the absence of concurrent perceptual stimuli. We find that attentional templates correlate with both feature-based attention and visual imagery. Attentional templates, like imagery, were significantly disrupted by the presence of irrelevant visual stimuli, while feature-based attention was not. We also found that a special population who lack the ability to visualize (aphantasia), showed evidence of feature-based attention when measured using the binocular rivalry paradigm, but not attentional templates. Taken together, these data suggest functional similarities between attentional templates and visual imagery, advancing the theory of visual imagery as a general simulation tool used across cognition. This article is part of the theme issue 'Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation'.

EEG Correlates of Voluntary and Involuntary Mental Attention in the Non-stationary Research Mode

We continued the study of EEG correlates of cognitive states with different contributions of sensory and mental attention in the non-stationary research mode. Tasks for sensory and mental attention were presented in series of 80 or 40 trials. Each trial contained two types of stimuli: visually presented words concretized the variants of the task; the presentation of images or a blank screen indicated the beginning of memorization or recall (imagination). Along with the tasks, a series of similar stimuli (words and blank screen) was presented, but the subjects were not asked to perform any tasks. In the latter case, the subjects passively observed irrelevant visual stimuli and, apparently, were withdrawn to their inner world (mind-wandering state). This condition is characterized by a specific EEG pattern, which differs from the patterns observed at rest and during cognitive tasks involving sensory and mental attention. Repetition of visual stimuli in the non-stationary research mode of mental attention has a masking effect on the dynamics of EEG synchronization in the α2 range. This masking effect occurs only if cognitive tasks are triggered by relevant sensory stimuli, but not by irrelevant stimuli. The findings support the opinion that synchronization in the α range is an essential sign of mental attention. A possible EEG pattern specific for voluntary figurative mental attention was also observed; this specific pattern includes different directions of changes in high-frequency EEG bands (β2 and γ) in the anterior and posterior areas of the cortex.

Irrelevant auditory and tactile signals, but not visual signals, interact with the target onset and modulate saccade latencies.

Saccadic eye movements bring events of interest to the center of the retina, enabling detailed visual analysis. This study explored whether irrelevant auditory (experiments A, B & F), visual (C & D) or tactile signals (E & F) delivered around the onset of a visual target modulates saccade latency. Participants were instructed to execute a quick saccade toward a target stepping left or right from a fixation position. We observed an interaction between auditory beeps or tactile vibrations and the oculomotor reaction that included two components: a warning effect resulting in faster saccades when the signal and the target were presented simultaneously; and a modulation effect with shorter-or longer-latencies when auditory and tactile signals were delivered before-or after-the target onset. Combining both modalities only increased the modulation effect to a limited extent, pointing to a saturation of the multisensory interaction with the motor control. Interestingly, irrelevant visual stimuli (black background or isoluminant noise strips in peripheral vision, flashed for 10 ms) increased saccade latency whether they were presented just before or after target onset. The lack of latency reduction with visual signals suggests that the modulation observed in the auditory and tactile experiments was not related to priming effects but rather to low-level audio- and tactile-visual integration. The increase in saccade latency observed with irrelevant visual stimuli is discussed in relation to saccadic inhibition. Our results demonstrate that signals conveying no information regarding where and when a visual target would appear modulate saccadic reactivity, much like in multisensory temporal binding, but only when these signals come from a different modality.

Neuronal population correlates of target selection and distractor filtering

Frontal Eye Field (FEF) neurons discriminate between relevant and irrelevant visual stimuli and their response magnitude predicts conscious perception. How this is reflected in the spatial representation of a visual stimulus at the neuronal population level is unknown. We recorded neuronal population activity in the FEF while monkeys were performing a forced choice cued detection task with identical target and distractor stimuli. We quantified, using machine learning techniques, estimates of target and distractor location from FEF population multiunit activities. We found that the FEF population activity provides a precise single trial estimate of reported stimuli locations. Importantly, the closer this prefrontal population single trial estimate is to the veridical stimulus location, the higher the probability that the target or the distractor is reported as perceived. We show that stimulus perception is rescued by the estimate of attention allocation specifically when the latter is close enough to the actual stimulus location, thus indicating a partial independence between attention and perception. Overall, we thus show that how and what we perceive of our environment depends on the spatial precision with which this environment is coded by prefrontal neuronal populations.

USEFUL FIELD OF VIEW AND DRIVING SIMULATION ACROSS TWO AGE GROUPS

The Insurance Information Institute (2017) reports that drivers aged 65 and older have the second highest rate of fatal car crashes. Research with the useful field of view (UFOV) assessment has predicted crashes in older drivers (Ball, 2006). “UFOV is defined as the area from which an individual can extract information quickly without head or eye movement” (Posit Science, 2019). Research demonstrates that older drivers are limited by poorer vision, divided attention and the inability to ignore distractions, and slower reaction time to critical stimuli (Owsley et al. 1998). As a result UFOV is an effective variable in assessing driver safety. We hypothesized that older compared to younger drivers would be less likely to inhibit attention to task irrelevant visual stimuli while engaged in a simulated driving task. Participants were community dwelling older adults and students recruited from a research pool and through word of mouth. Participants completed a series of demographic and health questions, Snellen visual acuity test a series of cognitive measures (e. g., Trails 1 and 2, digit symbol, digit span) and the UFOV assessment. Participants completed a driving simulation task while information on driving performance: number of collisions, speed limit deviations, turn signal use, time spent tailgating another vehicle, and braking reaction times. ANOVA demonstrated that as hypothesized, younger participants had significantly lower UFOV risk scores (p = .000). Older adults’ (M = 2.15, SD = .945) and younger adults’ (M = 1, SD = 0).

Tool use modulates early stages of visuo-tactile integration in far space: Evidence from event-related potentials

The neural representation of multisensory space near the body is modulated by the active use of long tools in non-human primates. Here, we investigated whether the electrophysiological correlates of visuo-tactile integration in near and far space were modulated by active tool use in healthy humans. Participants responded to a tactile target delivered to one hand while an irrelevant visual stimulus was presented ipsilaterally in near or far space. This crossmodal task was performed after the use of either short or long tools. Crucially, the P100 components elicited by visuo-tactile stimuli was enhanced on far as compared to near space trials after the use of long tools, while no such difference was present after short tool use. Thus, we found increased neural responses in brain areas encoding tactile stimuli to the body when visual stimuli were presented close to the tip of the tool after long tool use. This increased visuo-tactile integration on far space trials following the use of long tools might indicate a transient remapping of multisensory space. We speculate that performing voluntary actions with long tools strengthens the representation of sensory information arising within portions of space (i.e. the hand and the tip of the tool) that are most functionally relevant to one's behavioural goals.

On the interplay of visuospatial and audiotemporal dominance: Evidence from a multimodal kappa effect.

When participants judge multimodal audiovisual stimuli, the auditory information strongly dominates temporal judgments, whereas the visual information dominates spatial judgments. However, temporal judgments are not independent of spatial features. For example, in the kappa effect, the time interval between two marker stimuli appears longer when they originate from spatially distant sources rather than from the same source. We investigated the kappa effect for auditory markers presented with accompanying irrelevant visual stimuli. The spatial sources of the markers were varied such that they were either congruent or incongruent across modalities. In two experiments, we demonstrated that the spatial layout of the visual stimuli affected perceived auditory interval duration. This effect occurred although the visual stimuli were designated to be task-irrelevant for the duration reproduction task in Experiment 1, and even when the visual stimuli did not contain sufficient temporal information to perform a two-interval comparison task in Experiment 2. We conclude that the visual and auditory marker stimuli were integrated into a combined multisensory percept containing temporal as well as task-irrelevant spatial aspects of the stimulation. Through this multisensory integration process, visuospatial information affected even temporal judgments, which are typically dominated by the auditory modality.

Selection-for-action emerges in neural networks trained to learn spatial associations between stimuli and actions.

The objects present in our environment evoke multiple conflicting actions at every moment. Thus, a mechanism that resolves this conflict is needed in order to avoid the production of chaotic ineffective behaviours. A plausible candidate for such role is the selective attention, capable of inhibiting the neural representations of the objects irrelevant in the ongoing context and as a consequence the actions they afford. In this paper, we investigated whether a selective attention mechanism emerges spontaneously during the learning of context-dependent behaviour, whereas most neurocomputational models of selective attention and action selection imply the presence of architectural constraints. To this aim, we trained a deep neural network to learn context-dependent visual-action associations. Our main result was the spontaneous emergence of an inhibitory mechanism aimed to solve conflicts between multiple afforded actions by directly suppressing the irrelevant visual stimuli eliciting the incorrect actions for the current context. This suggests that such an inhibitory mechanism emerged as a result of the incorporation of context-independent probabilistic regularities occurring between stimuli and afforded actions.

The Multimodal Kappa Effect: Context-dependence of Sensory Dominance in Time Perception

When processing information from multiple sensory sources, inputs seem to be weighted according to the reliability of their estimate (Driver & Spence, 2000; Ernst & Bülthoff, 2003). This differential weighting typically leads to a dominance of one sense over another for a given percept. For example, in temporal perception, the auditory system dominates over the visual system (Repp & Pennel, 2002; Romei, De Haas, Mok, & Driver, 2011), whereas in spatial perception, the visual system dominates (Bertelson & Aschersleben, 1998). However, temporal decisions are not independent of spatial features. For example, in the Kappa effect, the time interval between two stimuli appears longer when they originate from spatially distant rather than the same source (Cohen, Hansel, & Sylvester, 1954; Price-Williams, 1954). We sought to investigate this Kappa effect in a bimodal context, wherein temporal information was always congruent across modalities but spatial information was not. In Experiment 1, participants reproduced a temporal interval between two auditory markers across three different conditions. In the unimodal condition, the auditory markers were presented either from the same or different spatial sources. In the two bimodal conditions, visual stimuli were presented synchronously with the auditory markers. In bimodal congruent trials, the spatial source of visual and auditory stimuli was identical. In bimodal incongruent trials, auditory stimuli always originated from the same spatial source, but visual stimuli came from different sources. Consistent with previous results, a Kappa effect was observed for unimodal auditory intervals. This effect was also observed in bimodal trials. Most interestingly, even when the task-relevant auditory markers came from the same spatial source, reproductions were prolonged if the irrelevant visual stimuli came from different spatial sources (i.e., in incongruent trials). Thus, despite the typical dominance of the auditory modality, the irrelevant visuo-spatial information biased the perception of the relevant audio-temporal information. Yet, one might alternatively argue that participants based their reproductions simply on the visual stimuli instead of the auditory ones. Thus, in Experiment 2, the main results were replicated by employing a temporal discrimination task, in which two intervals were marked by three successive auditory stimuli. The first two stimuli marking the first interval came from the same spatial source, whilst the third could be either from the same or a different source. In the two bimodal conditions, two visual stimuli were presented simultaneously with the first and third auditory markers, thus providing spatial information, but no temporal information about the duration of each interval. Again, these visual stimuli could be either spatially congruent or incongruent with the auditory marker locations. As in Experiment 1, a Kappa effect was found in all conditions. In summary, the Kappa effect found in the bimodal incongruent conditions suggests that visuospatial information dominated the audio-spatial information, and thereby even overruled the typical dominance of the auditory modality for temporal perception. Thus, these results suggest an important role for context in sensory dominance. That is, when information from different modalities is present, the extent to which one sense drives the overall percept depends on the interaction between multiple perceptual domains, such as space and time.

Earliest stages of visual cortical processing are not modified by attentional load.

This study investigated the effects of attentional load on neural responses to attended and irrelevant visual stimuli by recording high-density event-related potentials (ERPs) from the scalp in normal adult subjects. Peripheral (upper and lower visual field) and central stimuli were presented in random order at a rapid rate while subjects responded to targets among the central stimuli. Color detection and color-orientation conjunction search tasks were used as the low- and high-load tasks, respectively. Behavioral results showed significant load effects on both accuracy and reaction time for target detections. ERP results revealed no significant load effect on the initial C1 component (60-100 ms) evoked by either central-relevant or peripheral-irrelevant stimuli. Source analysis with dipole modeling confirmed previous reports that the C1 includes the initial evoked response in primary visual cortex. Source analyses indicated that high attentional load enhanced the early (70-140 ms) neural response to central-relevant stimuli in ventral-lateral extrastriate cortex, whereas load effects on peripheral-irrelevant stimulus processing started at 110 ms and were localized to more dorsal and anterior extrastriate cortical areas. These results provide evidence that the earliest stages of visual cortical processing are not modified by attentional load and show that attentional load affects the processing of task relevant and irrelevant stimuli in different ways.

The Role of Visual Representations within Working Memory for Paired-Associate and Serial Order of Spoken Words

Caplan and colleagues have recently explained paired-associate learning and serial-order learning with a single-mechanism computational model by assuming differential degrees of isolation. Specifically, two items in a pair can be grouped together and associated to positional codes that are somewhat isolated from the rest of the items. In contrast, the degree of isolation among the studied items is lower in serial-order learning. One of the key predictions drawn from this theory is that any variables that help chunking of two adjacent items into a group should be beneficial to paired-associate learning, more than serial-order learning. To test this idea, the role of visual representations in memory for spoken verbal materials (i.e., imagery) was compared between two types of learning directly. Experiment 1 showed stronger effects of word concreteness and of concurrent presentation of irrelevant visual stimuli (dynamic visual noise: DVN) in paired-associate memory than in serial-order memory, consistent with the prediction. Experiment 2 revealed that the irrelevant visual stimuli effect was boosted when the participants had to actively maintain the information within working memory, rather than feed it to long-term memory for subsequent recall, due to cue overloading. This indicates that the sensory input from irrelevant visual stimuli can reach and affect visual representations of verbal items within working memory, and that this disruption can be attenuated when the information within working memory can be efficiently supported by long-term memory for subsequent recall.

A crossmodal crossover: Opposite effects of visual and auditory perceptual load on steady-state evoked potentials to irrelevant visual stimuli

Mechanisms of attention are required to prioritise goal-relevant sensory events under conditions of stimulus competition. According to the perceptual load model of attention, the extent to which task-irrelevant inputs are processed is determined by the relative demands of discriminating the target: the more perceptually demanding the target task, the less unattended stimuli will be processed. Although much evidence supports the perceptual load model for competing stimuli within a single sensory modality, the effects of perceptual load in one modality on distractor processing in another is less clear. Here we used steady-state evoked potentials (SSEPs) to measure neural responses to irrelevant visual checkerboard stimuli while participants performed either a visual or auditory task that varied in perceptual load. Consistent with perceptual load theory, increasing visual task load suppressed SSEPs to the ignored visual checkerboards. In contrast, increasing auditory task load enhanced SSEPs to the ignored visual checkerboards. This enhanced neural response to irrelevant visual stimuli under auditory load suggests that exhausting capacity within one modality selectively compromises inhibitory processes required for filtering stimuli in another.

Repetitive transcanial magnetic stimulation (RTMS) modulates event-related potential (ERP) indices of attention in autism

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have previously been shown to have significantly augmented and prolonged event-related potentials (ERP) to irrelevant visual stimuli compared to controls at both early and later stages (e.g., N200, P300) of visual processing and evidence of an overall lack of stimulus discrimination. Abnormally large and indiscriminative cortical responses to sensory stimuli may reflect cortical inhibitory deficits and a disruption in the excitation/inhibition ratio. Low-frequency (≤1HZ) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to increase inhibition of stimulated cortex by the activation of inhibitory circuits. It was our prediction that after 12 sessions of low-frequency rTMS applied bilaterally to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices in individuals with ASD there would be a significant improvement in ERP indices of selective attention evoked at later (i.e., 200-600 ms) stages of attentional processing as well as an improvement in motor response error rate. We assessed 25 participants with ASD in a task of selective attention using illusory figures before and after 12 sessions of rTMS in a controlled design where a waiting-list group of 20 children with ASD performed the same task twice. We found a significant improvement in both N200 and P300 components as a result of rTMS as well as a significant reduction in response errors. We also found significant reductions in both repetitive behavior and irritability according to clinical behavioral questionnaires as a result of rTMS. We propose that rTMS has the potential to become an important therapeutic tool in ASD research and treatment.

The impact of visual distraction on episodic retrieval in older adults

Impairment in long-term memory is one of the most salient alterations in cognitive aging. Findings of age-related deficits in source monitoring and recollection have revealed a selective decline in memory for detailed information. The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is not well understood. We hypothesized that the influence of task-irrelevant visual stimuli present in our environment interferes with retrieval of detailed memories more for older than younger adults. We compared memory performance on a recall test for visual details when older adult participants' eyes were closed versus performance when their eyes were open and irrelevant visual stimuli were presented. The results showed that the presence of irrelevant visual information diminished long-term memory performance based on an objective measure of recollection for visual details. Comparison of the current results to findings from our earlier study using the same experimental paradigm with younger adults revealed that visual distraction disrupted recollection of relevant details to a greater degree in older than younger adults. This result suggests that visual distraction overwhelms older adults’ declining cognitive control resources that are instrumental in the retrieval and selection of mnemonic details. More generally, these findings explicate a mechanistic basis for selective impairment of recollection in normal aging.

Cueing spatial attention through timing and probability

Even when focused on an effortful task we retain the ability to detect salient environmental information, and even irrelevant visual stimuli can be automatically detected. However, to which extent unattended information affects attentional control is not fully understood. Here we provide evidences of how the brain spontaneously organizes its cognitive resources by shifting attention between a selective-attending and a stimulus-driven modality within a single task. Using a spatial cueing paradigm we investigated the effect of cue-target asynchronies as a function of their probabilities of occurrence (i.e., relative frequency). Results show that this accessory information modulates attentional shifts. A valid spatial cue improved participants’ performance as compared to an invalid one only in trials in which target onset was highly predictable because of its more robust occurrence. Conversely, cuing proved ineffective when spatial cue and target were associated according to a less frequent asynchrony. These patterns of response depended on asynchronies’ probability and not on their duration.Our findings clearly demonstrate that through a fine decision-making, performed trial-by-trial, the brain utilizes implicit information to decide whether or not voluntarily shifting spatial attention. As if according to a cost-planning strategy, the cognitive effort of shifting attention depending on the cue is performed only when the expected advantages are higher. In a trade-off competition for cognitive resources, voluntary/automatic attending may thus be a more complex process than expected.

Distractibility during Episodic Retrieval Is Exacerbated by Perturbation of Left Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex

The presence of irrelevant external stimuli during the retrieval of long-term memory (LTM) has a negative impact on the fidelity of recollected details. Top-down control processes that both guide the selection of internal information relevant to LTM goals and resolve interference on retrieval from irrelevant external information have been associated with the same region in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The current study examined a causal role of the left VLPFC in memory performance when external distraction (i.e., visual stimuli irrelevant to the current task goals) was presented during retrieval of LTM. Immediately after functional perturbation of the left VLPFC with 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, participants' memory was tested when their eyes were closed and when their eyes were open and irrelevant visual stimuli were presented. The results showed that visual distraction diminished LTM performance based on an objective measure of recollection and that perturbation of left VLPFC exacerbated the disruptive effect. This is the first evidence of a direct role of the left VLPFC in diminishing the impact of distraction on recollection, elucidating neural mechanisms that are critically involved in how we reconstruct the past while navigating the external environment.

Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Modulates Evoked-Gamma Frequency Oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorder

INTRODUCTION: It has been reported that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have abnormal reactions to the sensory environment and visuo-perceptual abnormalities. Electrophysiological research has provided evidence that gamma band activity (30-80 Hz) is a physiological indicator of the co-activation of cortical cells engaged in processing visual stimuli and integrating different features of a stimulus. A number of studies have found augmented and indiscriminative gamma band power at early stages of visual processing in ASD; this may be related to decreased inhibitory processing and an increase in the ratio of cortical excitation to inhibition. Low frequency or 'slow' (≤1HZ) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to increase inhibition of stimulated cortex by the activation of inhibitory circuits. METHODS: We wanted to test the hypothesis of gamma band abnormalities at early stages of visual processing in ASD by investigating relative evoked (i.e. ~ 100 ms) gamma power in 25 subjects with ASD and 20 age-matched controls using Kanizsa illusory figures. Additionally, we wanted to assess the effects of 12 sessions of bilateral 'slow' rTMS to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on evoked gamma activity using a randomized controlled design. RESULTS: In individuals with ASD evoked gamma activity was not discriminative of stimulus type, whereas in controls early gamma power differences between target and non-target stimuli were highly significant. Following rTMS individuals with ASD showed significant improvement in discriminatory gamma activity between relevant and irrelevant visual stimuli. We also found significant improvement in the responses on behavioral questionnaires (i.e., irritability, repetitive behavior) as a result of rTMS. CONCLUSION: We proposed that 'slow' rTMS may have increased cortical inhibitory tone which improved discriminatory gamma activity at early stages of visual processing. rTMS has the potential to become an important therapeutic tool in ASD treatment and has shown significant benefits in treating core symptoms of ASD with few, if any side effects.

Influence of the body on crossmodal interference effects between tactile and two-dimensional visual stimuli

We investigated how tactile discrimination performance was interfered with by irrelevant two-dimensional visual stimuli using the crossmodal interference task. Participants made speeded discrimination responses to the location of vibrotactile targets presented to either tip or base of their forefinger, while trying to ignore simultaneously presented visual distractors presented to either side of the central fixation on a front display. The array of visual distractors was presented at four different angles, and the participants rested their stimulated hand on a desk in either a forward-pointing or inward-pointing posture. Although there was apparently no specific spatial relationship between the tactile and two-dimensional visual stimuli arrays and the spatial response requirement was controlled, visuotactile interference effects occurred between them. Moreover, we found that the spatial relationships between the arrays depended on the potential range of movement and the current posture of the vibrotactile-stimulated hand and possibly the stored orientation of our hand representation, even without any explicit cue referring to hands. Our results suggest that the visuotactile spatial interactions involve multiple mechanisms regarding our bodily perception and our internal body representation.