Differences in Sensorimotor Processing of Visual and Proprioceptive Stimuli

The present study sought to determine whether individuals could be trained to attenuate the visual dominance effect by selecting a proprioceptive stimulus for attention. Using a reaction time (RT) task, subjects received either: (a) visual (V), (b) proprioceptive (P), or (c) combined V and P (VP) stimuli during the first four days. Each subject was then tested under all three stimuli conditions. Results showed that reaction time to the P cue was always faster than that to V or combined VP stimuli. The order in which subjects were tested under each stimulus modality significantly affected the results such that those subjects who received initial exposure to the V stimulus produced the slowest premotor time scores but the fastest motor time scores. These results suggest that the nature of the stimulus which initiates the volitional task can affect both the central processing requirements to initiate the response, and the qualitative manner in which the motor command is executed.