Distance modulates urgency to act and action awareness

Peripersonal space (PPS) - the space immediately surrounding our body - is known to enhance perceptual and neural processes. Yet, whether PPS influences fundamental aspects of voluntary actions remains underexplored. Here we tested the hypothesis that the initiation of voluntary actions and the temporal perception of their associated events - from decision to action - are affected by distance per se. Participants were presented with a Libet clock either within or outside their PPS and were instructed to initiate spontaneous actions. They reported the perceived timing of their decision to act, the execution of the action, or made no report. The results showed that participants initiated their actions earlier when the Libet clock was within PPS compared to when it was outside of PPS, with the distance effect being most pronounced in the voluntary action-only condition. Additionally, when the clock was within PPS, participants perceived their action decision and execution times as occurring earlier relative to their actual action time. By showing that distance objectively modulates action urgency and subjectively influences awareness of it, these findings reveal the PPS's role in voluntary decision-making and conscious awareness.