Peripersonal Space (PPS) is the multisensory space immediately surrounding our body. Visual and tactile stimuli here are promptly processed, since their interaction gradually strengthens as the distance between visual stimulus and the body decreases. Recently, a modified version of the Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ) task was proposed to assess PPS based on the spatial congruence between somatosensory and visual stimuli. Here, we used this paradigm to explore how a temporary vs a permanent state of anxiety can alter PPS. Indeed, previous research showed that PPS boundaries are not fixed, but they can be enlarged by contingent factors (i.e. emotional features). Participants performed the TOJ paradigm twice, just before and after completing an anxiety-inducing task (experimental breathing condition) or a neutral one (control breathing condition), while their trait and state anxiety levels were repeatedly measured. We found that the pattern of visuo-tactile integration in PPS changes in the very opposite way following the two breathing tasks for participants with high levels of temporary anxiety, by strengthening and weakening its power after the experimental and control conditions, respectively. On the contrary, both the breathing tasks are capable of reducing the cross-modal interplay as compared to baseline for high trait-anxious participants, who show an overall stronger visuo-tactile integration inside the PPS than low trait anxious individuals. These results are discussed in the light of the double dissociation between orienting and alerting attentional network over-functioning, reported in state anxiety participants, and impoverished prefrontal attentional control shown by trait anxiety individuals.

中文翻译：

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人际空间对暂时性和永久性焦虑状态的敏感性各不相同。

人际空间（PPS）是紧紧围绕我们身体的多感官空间。视觉和触觉刺激在此得到及时处理，因为它们之间的相互作用会随着视觉刺激与身体之间的距离减小而逐渐增强。最近，提出了时间顺序判断（TOJ）任务的修改版本，以基于体感和视觉刺激之间的空间一致性来评估PPS。在这里，我们使用这种范例来探索暂时性焦虑状态与永久性焦虑状态如何改变PPS。实际上，以前的研究表明，PPS边界不是固定的，但可以通过偶然性因素（即情绪特征）扩大。在完成引起焦虑的任务（实验性呼吸条件）或中性任务（控制性呼吸条件）前后，参与者进行了两次TOJ范式，同时反复测量他们的特质和状态焦虑水平。我们发现，在患有高水平暂时性焦虑的参与者进行两次呼吸任务后，通过分别增强和减弱其在实验和控制条件下的力量，PPS中的视触觉融合模式发生了截然相反的变化。相反，与高特质焦虑者的基线相比，两种呼吸任务都能够减少交叉模式的相互作用，与低特质焦虑者相比，他们表现出PPS内部的整体视觉-触觉整合性更高。根据状态焦虑症参与者报告的定向和警报注意网络功能过度之间的双重分离，讨论了这些结果。