A research group at Tohoku University has clarified that attention guidance exists around the hands even when the hands cannot be seen, and that it has the effect of promoting visual processing.
There are two types of visual attention: one that consciously directs to a certain object (top-down attention) and one that automatically directs to eye-catching visual information (bottom-up attention). There is physical attention.Physical attention has the effect of facilitating visual processing for stimuli near the body.
In this study, we prepared an experimental device that looks at visual stimuli through a mirror in order to explore the relationship between the promotion effect of the position of the hand on visual processing among physical attention and top-down attention and bottom-up attention. We investigated the attentional effect of presenting a visual stimulus to the position of the hand without showing it.
As a result, it was clarified that when the hand is in the position of the visual stimulus, the visual processing is promoted as compared with the case where the hand is on the opposite side of the position of the visual stimulus.This result was confirmed regardless of whether the right or left hand was used, and the same was observed regardless of whether the stimulus was on the right side or the left side.That is, it can be considered that the attention effect exists around the hand even when the hand cannot be seen, and the visual processing is promoted by the intracerebral processing different from the bottom-up attention.
In addition, since this is an experiment in which the presentation position of the visual stimulus is fixed and the measurement is performed with the top-down attention fixed, the attention guidance to the hand position is a mechanism different from the top-down attention. It can also be read that there is.
Interestingly, on the other hand, in left-handed subjects, unlike right-handed subjects, the effect of hand position was not statistically significant.The attentional effect around the hand suggests that it may be peculiar to right-handed people, and is also a result of pointing out an unknown link between the dominant hand and the brain function of physical attention.
Paper information:[Cerebral Cortex Communication] Visual attention around a hand location localized by proprioceptive information
