How we perceive the width of grasped objects: Insights into the central processes that govern proprioceptive judgements

Abstract

AbstractLow‐level proprioceptive judgements involve a single frame of reference, whereas high‐level proprioceptive judgements are made across different frames of reference. The present study systematically compared low‐level (graspgrasp) and high‐level (visiongrasp, graspvision) proprioceptive tasks, and quantified the consistency of graspvision and possible reciprocal nature of related high‐level proprioceptive tasks. Experiment 1 (n = 30) compared performance across visiongrasp, a graspvision and a graspgrasp tasks. Experiment 2 (n = 30) compared performance on the graspvision task between hands and over time. Participants were accurate (mean absolute error 0.27 cm [0.20 to 0.34]; mean [95% CI]) and precise ( = 0.95 [0.93 to 0.96]) for graspgrasp judgements, with a strong correlation between outcomes (r = −0.85 [−0.93 to −0.70]). Accuracy and precision decreased in the two high‐level tasks ( = 0.86 and 0.89; mean absolute error = 1.34 and 1.41 cm), with most participants overestimating perceived width for the visiongrasp task and underestimating it for graspvision task. There was minimal correlation between accuracy and precision for these two tasks. Converging evidence indicated performance was largely reciprocal (inverse) between the visiongrasp and graspvision tasks. Performance on the graspvision task was consistent between dominant and non‐dominant hands, and across repeated sessions a day or week apart. Overall, there are fundamental differences between low‐ and high‐level proprioceptive judgements that reflect fundamental differences in the cortical processes that underpin these perceptions. Moreover, the central transformations that govern high‐level proprioceptive judgements of grasp are personalised, stable and reciprocal for reciprocal tasks. imageKey points Low‐level proprioceptive judgements involve a single frame of reference (e.g. indicating the width of a grasped object by selecting from a series of objects of different width), whereas high‐level proprioceptive judgements are made across different frames of reference (e.g. indicating the width of a grasped object by selecting from a series of visible lines of different length). We highlight fundamental differences in the precision and accuracy of low‐ and high‐level proprioceptive judgements. We provide converging evidence that the neural transformations between frames of reference that govern high‐level proprioceptive judgements of grasp are personalised, stable and reciprocal for reciprocal tasks. This stability is likely key to precise judgements and accurate predictions in high‐level proprioception.