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Abstract:
Integration of visual and tactile stimuli increases when they
are in spatial proximity, as shown by behavioural and
electrophysiological data. This may facilitate our interactions
with objects within peripersonal, "action" space. However, in the
situation of observing ourselves in mirrors, visual stimuli with
which we interact in near space (e.g. a comb) project the image of
distant objects, as if placed "through the looking glass". Do
distant mirror reflections of near objects act as near or far
stimuli for crossmodal integration? Normal observers were tested in
three experiments using a visual-tactile interference paradigm.
This has shown that visual distractors disrupt tactile localisation
more when close to the stimulated hand, than when far. Our subjects
observed either their own hands and visual distractors nearby
reflected distantly in a mirrors, or the contents of a box, through
the half-silvered mirror, comprising the same visual distractors
placed far away, at the same position as the reflections of visual
distractors in the mirror condition. Visual interference was
stronger in mirror than box conditions, suggesting that distant
reflections of visual stimuli near the hands act as though
presented in peripersonal space, allowing strong visual-tactile
interactions for mirror reflections.
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