Social modulation of peripersonal space boundaries
Open accessAbstract
The space around the body, i.e., peripersonal space (PPS), is conceived as a multisensory-motor interface between body and environment. PPS is represented by frontoparietal neurons integrating tactile, visual, and auditory stimuli occurring near the body. PPS is plastic, because it extends by using a tool to reach far objects. Although interactions with others occur within PPS, little is known about how social environment modulates it. Here, we show that presence and interaction with others shape PPS representation. Participants performed a tactile detection task on their face while concurrent task-irrelevant sounds approached toward or receded from their face. Because a sound affects touch when occurring within PPS, we calculated the critical distance where sounds speeded up tactile reaction time as a proxy of PPS boundaries. Experiment 1 shows that PPS boundaries shrink when subjects face another individual, as compared to a mannequin, placed in far space. Experiment 2 and 3 show that, after playing an economic game with another person, PPS boundaries between self and other merge, but only if the other behaved cooperatively. These results reveal that PPS representation is sensitive to social modulation, showing a link between low-level sensorimotor processing and high-level social cognition.
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The perceived moral character, hostility, or cooperativeness of other individuals can influence the size of PPS.
“their perceived moral character, hostility, or cooperativeness can influence the size of PPS (Teneggi et al. 2013; Ruggiero et al. 2017; Cartaud et al. 2018; Pellencin et al. 2018b)”
From Neuroanatomical correlates of peripersonal space: bridging the gap between perception, action, emotion and social cognition (2024) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al. 2013
The Summary (p. 1) and Experiments 2 and 3 (pp. 2–3) report that a partner’s cooperative behavior, positively valued by participants, changed PPS boundaries. This source does not test perceived hostility or moral character more broadly, so it supports only the cooperativeness part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBeing close to cooperative vs non-cooperative partners modulates responses in multisensory tasks, enlarging or merging PPS boundary between cooperative individuals or shrinking PPS in non-cooperative case.
“Being close to cooperative vs non-cooperative partners modulates responses in multisensory tasks, enlarging or merging PPS boundary between the cooperative individuals or shrinking of PPS in non-cooperative case (Dell'Anna et al., 2020;Teneggi et al., 2013).”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
The Summary (p. 1) and Experiments 2 and 3 (p. 3) report that PPS boundaries extended or merged after a cooperative interaction. But the Non-cooperative game condition (p. 4) says PPS boundaries did not shift after a non-cooperative interaction. The reported shrinkage was when participants faced another person rather than a mannequin, not specifically a non-cooperative partner. (LLM, conf=0.92)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe presence of other individuals can modify the extension of PPS.
“studies have shown that the presence of other individuals can modify the extension of PPS”
From Neuroanatomical correlates of peripersonal space: bridging the gap between perception, action, emotion and social cognition (2024) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al. 2013
After a cooperative game with the other, the PPS boundary enlarges toward the confederate.
“after a cooperative game with the other, the PPS boundary enlarges toward the confederate”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
The mere presence of another person versus a mannequin shrinks the participant's PPS boundary.
“the mere presence of another person vs a mannequin shrinks the participant's PPS boundary”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
A PPS expansion measured by multisensory interaction might signify an inclusion of the other's PPS into one's own PPS, leading to a larger avenue for potential interactions between the agents.
“A PPS expansion measured by multisensory interaction might signify an inclusion of the other's PPS into one's own PPS (Teneggi et al., 2013) leading to a larger 'avenue' for potential interactions between the agents.”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
When PPS was estimated with the multisensory interaction task, PPS representation expanded towards a moral/cooperative agent.
“when PPS was estimated with the multisensory interaction task, PPS representation expanded towards a moral/cooperative agent”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
An audio-tactile interaction task can identify the point in space where a looming sound speeds up tactile processing as a proxy of the boundaries of multisensory PPS.
“We used an audio-tactile interaction task to identify the point in space where a looming sound speeded up tactile processing as a proxy of the boundaries of multisensory PPS (see Canzoneri et al., 2012; Canzoneri et al., 2013a; Canzoneri et al., 2013b; Teneggi et al., 2013, Noel et al., 2014).”
From Peripersonal space as the space of the bodily self (2015) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
Previous data show that receding sounds do not induce a spatial dependent modulation of tactile processing for trunk and face stimulation.
“Previous data show that receding sounds do not induce a spatial dependent modulation of tactile processing for trunk and face stimulation (Noel et al., 2014; Teneggi et al., 2013)”
From Peripersonal space as the space of the bodily self (2015) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
PPS shapes not only during physical body-objects interactions, such as those mediated by tool-use, but also during virtual interactions with far objects, mediated by a computer mouse or surgical robots, and even after social interactions with other persons, depending on the positive or negative value of those interactions.
“Our data also corroborate recent reports showing that PPS shapes not only during physical body-objects interactions, such as those mediated by tool-use, but also during virtual interactions with far objects, mediated by a computer mouse (Bassolino et al., 2010) or surgical robots (Rognini et al., 2013; Sengül et al., 2012), and even after social interactions with other persons, depending on the”
From Peripersonal space as the space of the bodily self (2015) · cites this paper as Teneggi et al., 2013
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References 44 · Cited by 257
- Authors
- Teneggi, C., Canzoneri, E., di Pellegrino, G., & Serino, A.
- Affiliations
- Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (FR)
- University of Bologna (IT)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Serino, Andrea
- ORCID
- Serino, Andrea
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-03
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 406-411
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2117076768
- Cited by
- 257
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 8
- FWCI
- 9.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- peripersonal space, multisensory integration, tactile detection, auditory-visual interaction, presence, social interaction, cooperation, self-other boundary, sensorimotor processing, social cognition, economic games
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Cooperative Behavior, Female, Humans, Personal Space, Reaction Time, Young Adult
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