ction-specific remapping of peripersonal space

Peripersonal space processing inmonkeys’ brain relies on visuo-tactile neurons activated by objects near, not touching, the animal’s skin.Multisensory interplay inperipersonal space is nowwell documented also inhumans, inbraindamagedpatientspresenting cross-modal extinctionaswell as inhealthy subjects and typically takes the form of stronger visuo-tactile interactions in peripersonal than far space. We recently showed in healthy humans the existence of a functional link between voluntary object-oriented actions (Grasping) and themultisensory coding of the space around us (as indexed by visual–tactile interaction). Here, we investigated whether performing different actions towards the same object implies differential modulations of peripersonal space. Healthy subjects were asked to either grasp or point towards a target object. In addition, they discriminated whether tactile stimuli were delivered on their right index finger (up), or thumb (down), while ignoring visual distractors. Visuo-tactile interaction was probed in baserasping ointing otor control ense of Body line Static conditions (before the movement) and in dynamic conditions (action onset and execution). Results showed that, compared to the Static baseline both actions similarly strengthened visuo-tactile interaction at the action onset, when Grasping and Pointing were kinematically indistinguishable. Crucially, Grasping induced further enhancement than Pointing in the execution phase, i.e., when the two actions kinematically diverged. Thesefindings reveal that performing actions induce a continuous remapping of the multisensory peripersonal space as a function of on-line sensory–motor requirements, thus s of a supporting the hypothesi