The Sensorimotor Foundations of Interpersonal Space Regulation

Our ability to code visual objects in a motor format contributes to the development of a functional representation of the external world, which involves a specific cerebral treatment of the peripersonal and extrapersonal space. Peripersonal space is commonly conceived as a multimodal representation allowing the organization of intentional motor actions and the access to specific concepts related to objects. Because of its motor properties, peripersonal space also constitutes a space of protection against external threats and thus participates in the organization of social interactions. On the basis of recent experimental, brain imaging and neuropsychological data, we will defend the idea that the regulation of interpersonal distances is based on two distinct processes: the sensory-motor specification of peripersonal space which determines the physical constraints of social interactions and the emotional specification of threat in the environment determining approach/avoidance behaviors. The integration of these motor and affective dimensions thus allows for a unified framework for the control of object-directed actions and social interactions, consistent with embodied approaches of cognition.