Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30842481›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2019

Movement of environmental threats modifies the relevance of the defensive eye-blink in a spatially-tuned manner.

R Somervail, R J Bufacchi, Y Guo, M Kilintari, G Novembre, D Swapp, A Steed, G D Iannetti

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The blink reflex and its modulation - Part 1: Physiological mechanisms.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

R SomervailDepartment of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
R J BufacchiDepartment of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
Y GuoDepartment of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
M KilintariDepartment of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
G NovembreNeuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy.
D SwappDepartment of Computer Science, University College London (UCL), London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9335-8663
A SteedDepartment of Computer Science, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
G D IannettiDepartment of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK. g.iannetti@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-4364-2068
University College London · GBItalian Institute of Technology · IT

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Subcortical reflexive motor responses are under continuous cortical control to produce the most effective behaviour. For example, the excitability of brainstem circuitry subserving the defensive hand-blink reflex (HBR), a response elicited by intense somatosensory stimuli to the wrist, depends on a number of properties of the eliciting stimulus. These include face-hand proximity, which has allowed the description of an HBR response field around the face (commonly referred to as a defensive peripersonal space, DPPS), as well as stimulus movement and probability of stimulus occurrence. However, the effect of stimulus-independent movements of objects in the environment has not been explored. Here we used virtual reality to test whether and how the HBR-derived DPPS is affected by the presence and movement of threatening objects in the environment. In two experiments conducted on 40 healthy volunteers, we observed that threatening arrows flying towards the participant result in DPPS expansion, an effect directionally-tuned towards the source of the arrows. These results indicate that the excitability of brainstem circuitry subserving the HBR is continuously adjusted, taking into account the movement of environmental objects. Such adjustments fit in a framework where the relevance of defensive actions is continually evaluated, to maximise their survival value.

Indexed as

BlinkingPersonal SpaceAdultBrain StemElectric StimulationFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansMaleVirtual RealityYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID30842481
PMCPMC6403335
OpenAlexW2922529207

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.