Spatially valid proprioceptive cues improve the detection of a visual stimulus

• Published in: Experimental brain research Vol. 205; no. 1; pp. 31 - 40
• Main Authors: Jackson, Carl P. T, Miall, R. Chris, Balslev, Daniela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.08.2010; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain research; Cross-modal spatial attention; Cues; Experiments; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Eye Movements; Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Models, Psychological; Motor ability; Motor control; Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration; Neurology; Neurosciences; Photic Stimulation - methods; Proprioception; Proprioception - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Research Article; Signal Detection, Psychological - physiology; Space Perception - physiology; Stimuli (Psychology); Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; vision; Visual perception; Young Adult; Human; Proprioception; Cross-modal spatial attention; Motor control; Vision; Visual stimulus; Force; Visual cue; Visual attention; Hand
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2330-3

Vision and proprioception are the main sensory modalities that convey hand location and direction of movement. Fusion of these sensory signals into a single robust percept is now well documented. However, it is not known whether these modalities also interact in the spatial allocation of attention, which has been demonstrated for other modality pairings. The aim of this study was to test whether proprioceptive signals can spatially cue a visual target to improve its detection. Participants were instructed to use a planar manipulandum in a forward reaching action and determine during this movement whether a near-threshold visual target appeared at either of two lateral positions. The target presentation was followed by a masking stimulus, which made its possible location unambiguous, but not its presence. Proprioceptive cues were given by applying a brief lateral force to the participant's arm, either in the same direction (validly cued) or in the opposite direction (invalidly cued) to the on-screen location of the mask. The d′ detection rate of the target increased when the direction of proprioceptive stimulus was compatible with the location of the visual target compared to when it was incompatible. These results suggest that proprioception influences the allocation of attention in visual space.