{
  "id": 4857535,
  "title": "An egocentric map prioritizing peri-personal space in the mouse rostro-lateral visual area",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/an-egocentric-map-prioritizing-peri-personal-space-in-the-mouse",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.747123v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Peripersonal space (PPS) - the area immediately surrounding and adjacent to an organism's body - has long been a focus of behavioral studies in humans and single-neuron recordings in primates. However, the cellular and circuit organization of PPS in the brain is still not well understood. In this study, researchers utilized dense extracellular recordings in the mouse rostro-lateral visual cortex (VISrl) to reveal the organization of PPS at the cellular and circuit scales.\n\nVisuo-tactile neurons in the VISrl were found to prioritize near-body space while also representing farther space in a direction-selective manner. These neurons tracked approaching objects but not receding ones across the environment. VISrl PPS neurons showed a unique integration of vision and touch in a nonlinear manner, with tactile responses becoming progressively facilitated as visual objects drew closer to the body.\n\nThe PPS neurons in the VISrl were discovered to be embedded in structured networks with like-to-like functional connectivity. These networks remapped according to recent visuo-tactile statistics, suggesting a dynamic and plastic representation of near-body space in the brain. The findings establish the VISrl as a circuit-accessible substrate for PPS and provide insights into how near-body space is represented by a multisensory cortical network in mice.",
  "summary": "All physical interactions between an organism and its environment occur within the space immediately adjacent to and surrounding its body, its peripersonal space (PPS). This space has been extensively studied behaviorally in humans, and through sparse single-neuron recordings in primates. However, how PPS is represented and organized at cellular and circuit scales remains poorly understood. Here,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}