From a Somatotopic to a Spatiotopic Frame of Reference for the Localization of Nociceptive Stimuli.

ABSTRACT: To react efficiently to potentially threatening stimuli, we have to be able to localize these stimuli in space. In daily life we are constantly moving so that our limbs can be positioned at the opposite side of space. Therefore, a somatotopic frame of reference is insufficient to localize nociceptive stimuli. Here we investigated whether nociceptive stimuli are mapped into a spatiotopic frame of reference, and more specifically a peripersonal frame of reference, which takes into account the position of the body limbs in external space, as well as the occurrence of external objects presented near the body. Two temporal order judgment (TOJ) experiments were conducted, during which participants had to decide which of two nociceptive stimuli, one applied to either hand, had been presented firs

SUBMITTER: De Paepe AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4552762 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature