Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, Milan, Italy.
Exp Brain Res. 2011 Jan;208(1):21-8. doi: 10.1007/s00221-010-2451-8. Epub 2010 Oct 21.
Numerical magnitude is believed to be represented along a mental number line (MNL), and there is evidence to suggest that the activation of the MNL affects the perception and representation of external space. In the present study, we investigated whether a spatial motor task affects numerical processing in the auditory modality. Blindfolded participants were presented with a numerical interval bisection task, while performing a tapping task with either their left or right hand, either in the fronto-central, fronto-left, or fronto-right peripersonal space. Results showed that tapping significantly influenced the participants' numerical bisection, with tapping in the left side of space increasing the original tendency to err leftward, and tapping to the right reducing such bias. Importantly, the effect depended on the side of space in which the tapping activity was performed, regardless of which hand was used. Tapping with either the left or right hand in the fronto-central space did not affect the participants' bias. These findings offer novel support for the existence of bidirectional interactions between external and internal representations of space.
数值大小被认为沿着心理数字线（MNL）表示，有证据表明 MNL 的激活会影响对外界空间的感知和表示。在本研究中，我们研究了空间运动任务是否会影响听觉模式中的数值处理。蒙住眼睛的参与者被呈现一个数值区间二分任务，同时用左手或右手在额中央、额左或额右近侧空间执行敲击任务。结果表明，敲击显著影响了参与者的数值二分，用左侧空间敲击增加了原来向左偏的趋势，而用右侧敲击则减少了这种偏差。重要的是，这种效果取决于敲击活动所在的空间侧，而不取决于使用哪只手。用左手或右手在额中央空间敲击不会影响参与者的偏差。这些发现为空间的外部和内部表示之间存在双向相互作用提供了新的支持。
