Handedness and proprioceptive position estimation: Are left handed people more accurate in self representation and is this representation resistant to manipulation by the Rubber Hand Illusion?
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1
The University of Queensland, School of Psychology, Australia
In the absence of visual information, predictable errors are seen in proprioceptive estimation of body position. Are certain individuals better able to locate their limbs when no visual information is present? Strongly right handed individuals ‘over-represent’ the right side of extrapersonal and body-space resulting in less accurate implicit body-representation compared to strongly left handed or ambidextrous individuals (termed psuedoneglect). The current study sought to investigate whether these differences in body-representation exist for static perceptual judgements of limb position. Proprioceptive acuity was compared across hand used and handedness at varying spatial locations with respect to the body midline. Secondly, we investigated manipulability of proprioceptive position using the Rubber Hand Illusion. We predicted left handed individuals would display greater position acuity overall and that the RHI would be less effective in shifting their position sense – compared to right-handed and ambidextrous individuals. Position errors at baseline indicated a natural positional recalibration towards the location of the shoulder of the hand used, rather than the midline (as predicted by previous research). Contrary to our predictions, evidence for accuracy differences and leftward spatial biases in right handed individuals was equivocal. Interestingly, in both right and left handers there was some evidence to suggest the RHI was more effective in shifting the position of the non-dominant hand. In conclusion, our results suggest that the effects of functional hemispheric asymmetry on processing of body-space are modulated by attention to hand-space. Results will be discussed in relation to laterality of brain function and the role of interhemispheric communication in updating body representation.
Keywords:
Proprioception,
rubber hand illusion,
handedness,
laterality,
psuedoneglect
Conference:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Sensation and Perception
Citation:
Dempsey-Jones
H and
Kritikos
A
(2012). Handedness and proprioceptive position estimation: Are left handed people more accurate in self representation and is this representation resistant to manipulation by the Rubber Hand Illusion?.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00138
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Received:
25 Oct 2012;
Published Online:
17 Nov 2012.
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Correspondence:
Ms. Harriet Dempsey-Jones, The University of Queensland, School of Psychology, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, Australia, h.dempseyjones@gmail.com