Binding space and time through action

Space and time are intimately coupled dimensions in the human brain. Several lines of evidence suggest that space and time are processed by a shared analogue magnitude system. It has been proposed that actions are instrumental in establishing this shared magnitude system. Here we provide evidence in support of this hypothesis, by showing that the interaction between space and time is enhanced when magnitude information is acquired through action. Participants observed increases or decreases in the height of a visual bar (spatial magnitude) while judging whether a simultaneously presented sequence of acoustic tones had accelerated or decelerated (temporal magnitude). In one condition (Action), participants directly controlled the changes in bar height with a hand grip device, whereas in the other (No Action), changes in bar height were externally controlled but matched the spatial/temporal profile of the Action condition. The sign of changes in bar height biased the perceived rate of the...

时空在人类大脑中是紧密耦合的认知维度。多项研究证据表明，时空信息由共享的类比量级系统（analogue magnitude system）进行加工。已有研究提出，动作在该共享量级系统的构建过程中起到关键作用。本研究通过实验为该假说提供了支持证据：当通过动作获取量级信息时，时空间的交互效应会得到增强。实验中，被试需观察视觉条形柱高度的升高或降低（对应空间量级），同时判断同步呈现的听觉音调序列是加速还是减速（对应时间量级）。实验包含两种条件：动作条件（Action）下，被试通过手持握力装置直接控制条形柱的高度变化；无动作条件（No Action）下，条形柱高度变化由外部控制，但与动作条件的空间/时间特征完全匹配。条形柱高度变化的方向会影响被试对速率的感知……