What Determines Limb Selection for Reaching?

Abstract

While motor dominance appears to drive limb selection for reaching movements at the midline and ipsilateral (dominant) side, this study examined the possible determinants associated with what drives the programming of movements in response to stimuli presented in contralateral space. Experiment 1 distinguished between object proximity and a hemispheric bias for using the hand on the same side as the stimulus by comparing imagined and actual reaching with arms uncrossed and crossed. Experiment 2 examined the role of comfort in limb selection via participants reaching for a cube under two conditions: 1- and multiple-df movements. The first experiment demonstrated a proximity effect; participants preferred to keep their arms crossed to reach with the hand closest to the stimulus rather than uncrossing their arms to support a bias. Comfort was eliminated when participants continued to prefer the nondominant hand, even though they were able to reach with the dominant hand at all positions using only a 1-df movement. In summary, we offer evidence suggesting that limb selection in response to stimuli presented in contralateral hemispace is determined primarily by information related to the proximity between the stimulus and the hand.