Posture modulates implicit hand maps

Several forms of somatosensation require that afferent signals be informed by stored representations of body size and shape. Recent results have revealed that position sense relies on a highly distorted body representation. Changes of internal hand posture produce plastic alterations of processing in somatosensory cortex. This study therefore investigated how such postural changes affect implicit body representations underlying position sense. Participants localised the knuckles and tips of each finger in external space in two postures: the fingers splayed (Apart posture) or pressed together (Together posture). Comparison of the relative locations of the judgments of each landmark were used to construct implicit maps of represented hand structure. Spreading the fingers apart produced increases in the implicit representation of hand size, with no apparent effect on hand shape. Thus, changes of internal hand posture produce rapid modulation of how the hand itself is represented, paralleling the known effects on somatosensory cortical processing.