Attention affects visual perceptual processing near the hand

Psychol Sci. 2010 Sep;21(9):1254-8. doi: 10.1177/0956797610380697. Epub 2010 Aug 16.

Abstract

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.

MeSH terms

  • Attention*
  • Hand*
  • Humans
  • Movement
  • Orientation
  • Posture
  • Reaction Time
  • Touch Perception
  • Visual Perception*