M2
Humans do not perceive space uniformly: the brain encodes space near the body differently from distant space. The area immediately surrounding the body is called peripersonal space (PPS). This space is particularly important at the behavioral level because it is through this space that we interact with the outside world. At least two functions are attributed to PPS: protecting the body and planning goal-directed actions. Studies have shown that the size of PPS is flexible and can be influenced by emotional, social, and motor factors.
In particular, emotional states related to the perception of danger, such as anxiety, may modulate how this protective space is represented around the body. In threatening or anxiety-inducing contexts, the organism may adapt the representation of this space to optimize the detection and anticipation of potentially dangerous events near the body. Thus, anxiety could lead to changes in the size or functional properties of PPS. In this context, the aim of this internship will be to examine the influence of anxiety on the representation of PPS in healthy subjects.
To do this, we will use the “Threat-of-Scream” paradigm, which induces anxiety through the presentation of unpredictable aversive stimuli (Beaurenaut et al., 2020), and a multisensory interaction paradigm to assess the size of PPS (Canzoneri et al., 2012; Hobeika et al., 2020). This protocol is based on the multisensory nature of PPS and consists of an audio-tactile interaction test. The subject’s task is to detect a tactile stimulus. At the same time, they hear a dynamic auditory stimulus (3D sound) that is irrelevant to the task. When the sound enters the subject’s PPS, it interacts with the tactile stimulus, significantly reducing the reaction time to the tactile stimulus. PPS can therefore be studied by examining the effects of audio-tactile interaction as a function of the distance of the sound source. These effects will be compared between an anxiety-inducing condition and a neutral condition.
References:
Beaurenaut, M., Tokarski, E., Dezecache, G., & Grèzes, J. (2020). The ‘Threat of Scream’ paradigm : A tool for studying sustained physiological and subjective anxiety. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 12496. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68889-0
Canzoneri, E., Magosso, E., & Serino, A. (2012). Dynamic sounds capture the boundaries of peripersonal space representation in humans. PloS one, 7(9), e44306. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044306
Hobeika, L., Taffou, M., Carpentier, T., Warusfel, O., & Viaud-Delmon, I. (2020). Capturing the dynamics of peripersonal space by integrating expectancy effects and sound propagation properties. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108534
This internship will take place between the Department of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, IRBA, Brétigny-sur-Orge) and the Cognition, Action, Emotion Interaction Laboratory (Université Paris Nanterre, Nanterre).
It will be supervised by Marine Taffou (IRBA) and Morgan Beaurenaut (Université Paris Nanterre).
Responsibilities:
• Setting up/designing the experiment
• Programming the paradigm
• Data collection and analysis
• Participation in cross-cutting laboratory tasks: meetings, equipment management, dissemination of results.
Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter to Marine Taffou (marine.taffou@def.gouv.fr) and Morgan Beaurenaut (morgan.b@parisnanterre.fr).