title: The oculomotor resonance effect in spatial-numerical mapping.
abstract: We investigated automatic Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect in auditory number processing. Two experiments continually measured spatial characteristics of ocular drift at central fixation during and after auditory number presentation. Consistent with the notion of a spatially oriented mental number line, we found spontaneous magnitude-dependent gaze adjustments, both with and without a concurrent saccadic task. This fixation adjustment (1) had a small-number/left-lateralized bias and (2) it was biphasic as it emerged for a short time around the point of lexical access and it received later robust representation around following number onset. This pattern suggests a two-step mechanism of sensorimotor mapping between numbers and space - a first-pass bottom-up activation followed by a top-down and more robust horizontal SNARC. Our results inform theories of number processing as well as simulation-based approaches to cognition by identifying the characteristics of an oculomotor resonance phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom; Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation. Electronic address: andriy.myachykov@northumbria.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andriy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Myachykov
authors.affiliation: School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cangelosi
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Plymouth.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive Science, University of Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Embodied cognition; Eye movements; Ocular drift; Oculomotor resonance; SNARC