Attention affects visual perceptual processing near the hand.
Specialized, bimodal neural systems integrate visual and tactile information in the space near the hand. Here, we show that visuo-tactile representations allow attention to influence early perceptual processing, namely, figure-ground assignment. Regions that were reached toward were more likely than other regions to be assigned as foreground figures, and hand position competed with image-based information to bias figure-ground assignment. Our findings suggest that hand position allows attention to influence visual perceptual processing and that visual processes typically viewed as unimodal can be influenced by bimodal visuo-tactile representations.
Cosman
Joshua D
JD
Departments of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA. joshua-cosman@uiowa.edu
Vecera
Shaun P
SP
D001288:Attention; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D009949:Orientation; D011187:Posture; D011930:Reaction Time; D055698:Touch Perception; D014796:Visual Perception