Integration of vision and touch in the control of posture
Poster Presentation

Åsa M. H. Pellijeff
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham

Kirsten J. McKenzie
Institute of Neuroscience, University of Nottingham

Stephen R. Jackson
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham

     Abstract ID Number: 134
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 21, 2005

Abstract
We investigated the integration of vision and touch by testing TG, a 67-year-old man with congenital absence of the corpus callosum, and 15 healthy controls on a haptic matching task using three visual conditions; (1) vision, (2) non-informative vision and (3) no vision. In the vision condition participants had full view of the workspace, whereas in the non-informative vision condition an opaque wooden table and an opaque sheet were used to obscure the movements of either limb. Thus the participants could view the region of peripersonal space directly above the workspace, but were not provided with visual input in relation to the task. In the no vision condition participants were blindfolded. Two rotating bars, one reference and one test bar, were placed to the left and right of the participants’ midline. At the start of each trial the experimenter positioned the bars in the appropriate locations and participants felt the reference bar before matching that orientation with the test bar. The reference bar angle and position (left or right side) were randomised. Participants were instructed to orient the test bar to either a parallel or mirror-symmetrical position in respect to the reference bar. Results are discussed.