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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Developmental vision determines the reference frame for the multisensory control of action.

Brigitte Röder¹, Anna Kusmierek, Charles Spence

¹Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|March 16, 2007

Summary

Vision shapes how we process spatial information. Congenitally blind individuals show distinct auditory-manual control, suggesting vision influences our default external reference frame for action.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology

Background:

Action goals are typically encoded in external coordinates across sensory modalities.
The role of visual experience in establishing this external reference frame for action control is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether the default use of an external reference frame for auditory-manual tasks is innate or acquired through visual development.
To examine how congenital blindness impacts multisensory action control compared to late blindness and sightedness.

Main Methods:

An auditory-manual task was employed with congenitally blind, late blind, and sighted adults.
Participants responded to auditory stimuli, with spatial location being task-irrelevant in Experiment I (Simon task) and relevant in Experiment II.
Behavioral responses (reaction time, accuracy) were analyzed to assess spatial processing and reference frame use.

Main Results:

All groups exhibited a Simon effect (faster responses when sound and hand were on the same side) in the standard task.
Congenitally blind participants showed a reversed Simon effect with crossed hands, indicating a different spatial processing strategy.
Congenitally blind individuals displayed a larger crossing deficit when explicitly matching auditory location to hand position, suggesting altered spatial mapping.

Conclusions:

Developmental vision appears to induce the default use of an external coordinate frame for multisensory action control.
This visually-induced reference frame facilitates both visual and auditory-manual control.
Findings highlight the profound impact of visual experience on fundamental aspects of spatial cognition and action planning.