How Your Sense of Personal Space Shapes Your Life

Like radar, our brains constantly monitor the zone just outside our bodies—an ability that equips us to detect danger, handle ordinary objects, and coordinate with other people. In his book The Spaces Between Us, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano explores the origins and power of this process.

Controlling

Normally, the area we perceive as our personal space wraps around our body like a second skin. However, we're able to temporarily stretch this barrier to envelop tools, Graziano says. By extending our hand's force field around a fork, we can more effectively track the utensil's location in space and accurately maneuver it to our mouth. Researchers have demonstrated this ability in other primates. If a monkey is trained to use a rake to obtain out-of-reach treats, a neuron that responds to objects approaching the monkey's arm eventually reacts similarly to objects approaching the rake.

Inviting

Our bubble shrinks and grows in different social contexts. People have a more expansive sense of personal space—they are attentive to a wider area—when anxious than when relaxed. Personal space also expands in the presence of dominant people and practically disappears during sexual encounters: "People are typically defensive of their necks," says Graziano. "When someone allows you to put your teeth-filled weapon on his or her neck, one of the most heavily guarded parts of the body, it signals that the person has lowered the defenses for you."

Navigating

When the brain's processing of personal space malfunctions, the consequences can be disruptive. Graziano's own son has dyspraxia, which has led him to struggle with balance and coordination—and to invade others' space, unnerving peers and teachers, Graziano says. "It is shocking to see just how much impact this system in the brain has on everyday behavior."