title: Body part-centered and full body-centered peripersonal space representations.
abstract: Dedicated neural systems represent the space surrounding the body, termed Peripersonal space (PPS), by integrating visual or auditory stimuli occurring near the body with somatosensory information. As a behavioral proxy to PPS, we measured participants' reaction time to tactile stimulation while task-irrelevant auditory or visual stimuli were presented at different distances from their body. In 7 experiments we delineated the critical distance at which auditory or visual stimuli boosted tactile processing on the hand, face, and trunk as a proxy of the PPS extension. Three main findings were obtained. First, the size of PPS varied according to the stimulated body part, being progressively bigger for the hand, then face, and largest for the trunk. Second, while approaching stimuli always modulated tactile processing in a space-dependent manner, receding stimuli did so only for the hand. Finally, the extension of PPS around the hand and the face varied according to their relative positioning and stimuli congruency, whereas the trunk PPS was constant. These results suggest that at least three body-part specific PPS representations exist, differing in extension and directional tuning. These distinct PPS representations, however, are not fully independent from each other, but referenced to the common reference frame of the trunk.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serino
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Noel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Canzoneri
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Electromagnectics and Acoustics, Institute of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marmaroli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Electromagnectics and Acoustics, Institute of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lissek
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blanke