Does force-field adaptation induce after-effects on space representation?

Abstract

Prism adaptation is a well-known model to study sensorimotor adaptive processes. It has been shown that following prism exposure, after-effects are not only restricted to the sensorimotor level but extend as well into spatial cognition. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate in healthy individuals whether expansion to spatial cognition is restricted to adaptive processes peculiar to prism adaptation or whether it occurs as well following other forms of adaptive process such as adaptation to a novel dynamic environment during pointing movements. Representational after-effects were assessed by the perceptual line bisection task before and after adaptation to a leftward or a rightward force field. The main results showed that adaptation developed at sensorimotor level but did not produce after-effects in space representation. However appropriate analysis showed that the slower a participant de-adapt to a rightward dynamic perturbation, the stronger the influence on the perceptual midline judgment during the late phase of the bisection task. The discussion highlights the commonalities between prism and dynamic adaptation on the effects on space representation.