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      An Action Field Theory of Peripersonal Space

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          Abstract

          Predominant conceptual frameworks often describe peripersonal space (PPS) as a single, distance-based, in-or-out zone within which stimuli elicit enhanced neural and behavioural responses. Here we argue that this intuitive framework is contradicted by neurophysiological and behavioural data. First, PPS-related measures are not binary, but graded with proximity. Second, they are strongly influenced by factors other than proximity, such as walking, tool use, stimulus valence, and social cues. Third, many different PPS-related responses exist, and each can be used to describe a different space. Here, we reconceptualise PPS as a set of graded fields describing behavioural relevance of actions aiming to create or avoid contact between objects and the body. This reconceptualisation incorporates PPS into mainstream theories of action selection and behaviour.

          Highlights

          Many behavioural and neurophysiological responses depend on the proximity of environmental stimuli to the body or to specific body parts.

          This has led to the intuitive, but ill-defined, concept of PPS as a single, distance-based, in-or-out zone. However, this intuitive framework is contradicted by empirical data.

          PPS is instead better conceptualised as a set of several different graded fields, affected by many factors other than stimulus proximity.

          PPS fields emphasize different behavioural functions and, thus, are better understood as mappings onto behaviour, rather than as representations of stimulus configuration.

          This reconceptualisation incorporates PPS into mainstream theories of action selection and behaviour.

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          Most cited references69

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          The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat.

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            Intentional maps in posterior parietal cortex.

            The posterior parietal cortex (PPC), historically believed to be a sensory structure, is now viewed as an area important for sensory-motor integration. Among its functions is the forming of intentions, that is, high-level cognitive plans for movement. There is a map of intentions within the PPC, with different subregions dedicated to the planning of eye movements, reaching movements, and grasping movements. These areas appear to be specialized for the multisensory integration and coordinate transformations required to convert sensory input to motor output. In several subregions of the PPC, these operations are facilitated by the use of a common distributed space representation that is independent of both sensory input and motor output. Attention and learning effects are also evident in the PPC. However, these effects may be general to cortex and operate in the PPC in the context of sensory-motor transformations.
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              Parieto-frontal interactions, personal space, and defensive behavior.

              In the monkey brain, two interconnected cortical areas have distinctive neuronal responses to visual, tactile, and auditory stimuli. These areas are the ventral intraparietal area (VIP) and a polysensory zone in the precentral gyrus (PZ). The multimodal neurons in these areas typically respond to objects touching, near, or looming toward the body surface. Electrical stimulation of these areas evokes defensive-like withdrawing or blocking movements. These areas have been suggested to participate in a range of functions including navigation by optic flow, attention to nearby space, and the processing of object location for the guidance of movement. We suggest that a major emphasis of these areas is the construction of a margin of safety around the body and the selection and coordination of defensive behavior. In this review, we summarize the physiological properties of these brain areas and discuss a range of behavioral phenomena that might be served by those neuronal properties, including the ducking and blocking reactions that follow startle, the flight zone of animals, the personal space of humans, the nearby, multimodal attentional space that has been studied in humans, the withdrawal reaction to looming visual stimuli, and the avoidance of obstacles during self-motion such as locomotion or reaching.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Trends Cogn Sci
                Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.)
                Trends in Cognitive Sciences
                Elsevier Science
                1364-6613
                1879-307X
                1 December 2018
                December 2018
                : 22
                : 12
                : 1076-1090
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK
                [2 ]Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), University College London, London, UK
                [3 ]Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: g.iannetti@ 123456ucl.ac.uk
                Article
                S1364-6613(18)30222-5
                10.1016/j.tics.2018.09.004
                6237614
                30337061
                98c83a6e-7d46-45d8-a0f7-1610dd0858ea
                © 2018 The Authors

                This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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                Categories
                Article

                Neurosciences
                perception and action,action selection,egocentric coding,motor system,defence,goal-oriented actions

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