title: How do visual and postural cues combine for self-tilt perception during slow pitch rotations?
abstract: Self-orientation perception relies on the integration of multiple sensory inputs which convey spatially-related visual and postural cues. In the present study, an experimental set-up was used to tilt the body and/or the visual scene to investigate how these postural and visual cues are integrated for self-tilt perception (the subjective sensation of being tilted). Participants were required to repeatedly rate a confidence level for self-tilt perception during slow (0.05°·s(-1)) body and/or visual scene pitch tilts up to 19° relative to vertical. Concurrently, subjects also had to perform arm reaching movements toward a body-fixed target at certain specific angles of tilt. While performance of a concurrent motor task did not influence the main perceptual task, self-tilt detection did vary according to the visuo-postural stimuli. Slow forward or backward tilts of the visual scene alone did not induce a marked sensation of self-tilt contrary to actual body tilt. However, combined body and visual scene tilt influenced self-tilt perception more strongly, although this effect was dependent on the direction of visual scene tilt: only a forward visual scene tilt combined with a forward body tilt facilitated self-tilt detection. In such a case, visual scene tilt did not seem to induce vection but rather may have produced a deviation of the perceived orientation of the longitudinal body axis in the forward direction, which may have lowered the self-tilt detection threshold during actual forward body tilt.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, France; Cognitive Neuroscience Department and Cognitive Interaction Technology - Center of Excellence, Bielefeld University, Germany. Electronic address: cecile.scotto@gmail.com.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scotto Di Cesare
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buloup
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, France.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Mestre
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bringoux
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D012399:Rotation; D012649:Self Concept; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arm pointing; Multisensory integration; Postural orientation; Self-tilt perception; Spatial orientation; Visual orientation