Effect of visuomotor calibration and uncertainty on the perception of peripersonal space

Target selection for action depends not only on the egocentric location of objects estimated from retinal and extraretinal variables, but also on the assessment of current action possibilities. In the present study, we investigated the effect of altering sensorimotor anticipation processes on subsequent perceptual estimates of reachability. To do so, we conducted two experiments in which we changed the relation between visual distance and movement amplitude. Experiment 1 showed that iterative visuomotor adaptation to distorted visual feedback (in steps of ±15 mm, up to a total adaptation of ±75 mm) led to a congruent variation of perceived reachable space, although the first introduction of the shifted visual feedback produced a reduction of perceived reachable space whatever the direction of the feedback shift. Experiment 2 showed that increasing uncertainty about visuomotor performances, by providing a visual feedback randomly shifted in depth (±7.5 mm), produced the same reduction of perceived reachable space in the absence of visuomotor adaptation. Taken together, these data suggest that the visual perception of reachable space depends on a motor-related perceptual system, which is affected by both visuomotor recalibration and reliability of the visuomotor system.