Effects of hand posture on preparatory control processes and sensory modulations in tactile-spatial attention.

OBJECTIVE

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured to investigate spatial coordinate systems involved in the control of preparatory tactile-spatial orienting, and in subsequent attentional modulations of somatosensory processing.

METHODS

On each trial, a visual precue directed attention to the left or right hand, where infrequent tactile targets had to be detected. Hands were positioned either close together or wide apart. ERPs were recorded in the cue-target interval and in response to attended and unattended tactile non-targets.

RESULTS

A frontal anterior directing attention negativity (ADAN) and a posterior late directing attention positivity (LDAP) were elicited in the cue-target interval contralateral to the direction of an attentional shift. The ADAN was unaffected by hand posture, but the LDAP was attenuated when hands were close together. N140 amplitudes were enhanced in response to tactile stimuli presented to the attended hand, and this effect was more pronounced when hands were wide apart.

CONCLUSIONS

ADAN and LDAP are linked to separable anterior and posterior attentional control systems, which use coordinate systems based on somatotopic and external space, respectively. Effects of spatial attention on somatosensory stimulus processing are affected by variations in body posture.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our results demonstrate that representations of body locations in external space play a central role in the control of tactile attention.