Effect of gaze orientation on tactilo-kinesthetic performance.
Twenty-two normal right-handed subjects indicated with their index finger the midpoint of a horizontal rod that they could not see. Subjects performed this task while directing their gaze either centrally or toward four different locations (5 degrees or 30 degrees to the left or to the right of the midline). Results showed an overall leftward bias in rod bisection, which increased when subjects used their right hand and fixated a right-sided visual target. Thus, orienting of gaze can affect a nonvisual, tactilo-kinesthetic spatial task. The possible mechanisms of this interaction are discussed with respect to activation-orienting theories egocentric hypotheses and directional trends.
Chokron
Sylvie
S
LPE, CNRS UMR 5105, UPMF, Grenoble, France. chokron@ext.jussieu.fr
Bartolomeo
Paolo
P
Colliot
Pascale
P
Auclair
Laurent
L
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007699:Kinesthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology