1
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Steinmassl K, Paulus M. Malleability of the sense of bodily self in early childhood: 5- and 6-year-old children show the enfacement illusion. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 246:105990. [PMID: 38909521 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the developing sense of bodily self are debated. Whereas some scholars stress the role of sensory factors, others propose the importance of contextual factors. By manipulating multisensory stimulation and social familiarity with the other person, we explored two factors that are proposed to relate to young children's developing sense of bodily self. Including an adult sample allowed us to investigate age-related differences of the malleability of the bodily self. To this end, the study implemented an enfacement illusion with children (N = 64) and adults (N = 33). Participants were exposed to one trial with synchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation and one trial with asynchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation-either with a stranger or with the mother as the other person. A self-recognition task using morph videos of self and other and an enfacement questionnaire were implemented as dependent measures. Results revealed evidence for the presence of the enfacement effect in children in both measures. The identity of the other person had a significant effect on the self-recognition task. Contrary to our hypothesis, the effect was significantly smaller in the caregiver condition. No significant differences between children and adults emerged. Our results demonstrate the role of both multisensory stimulation and contextual-here social familiarity-factors for the construction and development of a bodily self. The study provides developmental science with a novel approach to the bodily self by showing the validity of the self-recognition task in a child sample. Overall, the study supports proposals that the sense of bodily self is malleable early in development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin Steinmassl
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, 80539 Munich, Germany.
| | - Markus Paulus
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, 80539 Munich, Germany
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2
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Messina A, Berntsen D. Self-reported sensibility to bodily signals predicts individual differences in autobiographical memory: an exploratory study. Memory 2024; 32:996-1011. [PMID: 38990765 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2024.2373891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Recent theoretical perspectives have advanced that autobiographical memory processes are supported by interoception, the perception of internal bodily sensations. Yet, this relationship remains largely underexplored. The present study addressed this critical gap in the literature by systematically investigating the association between self-reported Interoceptive Sensibility and various individual differences measures of autobiographical memory. In Study 1, using a correlational approach in a large sample of participants (N = 247), we identified significant correlations between standardised measures of interoception and the general experience of autobiographical memory and the frequency of involuntary mental time travel. These associations remained significant even after controlling for potential confounding factors in terms of age, gender, and trait affectivity, underscoring their robustness. Study 2 replicated and extended the associations identified in Study 1 in another large participant sample (N = 257), further validating them by accounting for the potential confounding effect of well-being. Our findings demonstrate that individuals' ability to perceive and understand bodily signals robustly relates to how they experience autobiographical memories. By adopting an exploratory approach based on individual differences, our results provide novel and concrete insights into the association between interoception and autobiographical memory, providing a strong foundation for future investigations into the causal mechanisms connecting these two constructs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Messina
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Dorthe Berntsen
- Center on Autobiographical Memory Research, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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3
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Nakamura J, Kitazaki M. The effect of posture on virtual walking experience using foot vibrations. Sci Rep 2024; 14:19366. [PMID: 39169206 PMCID: PMC11339416 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-70229-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 08/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Virtual walking systems for stationary observers have been developed using multimodal stimulation such as vision, touch, and sound to overcome physical limitation. In previous studies, participants were typically positioned in either a standing or a seated position. It would be beneficial if bedridden users could have enough virtual walking experience. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of participants' posture and foot vibrations on the experience of virtual walking. They were either sitting, standing, or lying during observing a virtual scene of a walking avatar in the first-person perspective, while vibrations either synchronized or asynchronized (randomized) to the avatar's walking were applied to their feet. We found that the synchronized foot vibrations improved virtual walking experiences compared to asynchronous vibrations. The standing position consistently offered an improved virtual walking experience compared to sitting and lying positions with either the synchronous or asynchronous foot vibrations, while the difference between the siting and lying postures was small and not significant. Furthermore, subjective scores for posture matching between real and virtual postures, illusory body ownership, and sense of agency were significantly higher with the synchronous than the asynchronous vibration. These findings suggest that experiencing virtual walking with foot vibrations in a lying position is less effective than a standing position, but not much different from a sitting position.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junya Nakamura
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan.
| | - Michiteru Kitazaki
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan.
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4
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Heurley LP, Obrecht L, Vanborren H, Touzard F, Brouillet T. The prediction-confirmation account of the sense of body ownership: Evidence from a rubber hand illusion paradigm. Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02553-w. [PMID: 39105938 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02553-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024]
Abstract
We investigated the contribution of multisensory predictions to body ownership, and beyond, to the integration of body-related signals. Contrary to the prevailing idea, according to which, to be integrated, cues necessarily have to be perceived simultaneously, we instead proposed the prediction-confirmation account. According to this account, a perceived cue can be integrated with a predicted cue as long as both signals are relatively simultaneous. To test this hypothesis, a standard rubber hand illusion (RHI) paradigm was used. In the first part of each trial, the illusion was induced while participants observed the rubber hand being touched with a paintbrush. In the subsequent part of the trial, (i) both rubber hand and the participant's real hand were stroked as before (i.e., visible/synchronous condition), (ii) the rubber hand was not stroke anymore (i.e., visible/tactile-only condition), or (iii) both rubber hand and the participant's real hand were synchronously stroked while the location where the rubber hand was touched was occulted (i.e., occulted/synchronous condition). However, in this latter condition, participants still perceived the approaching movement of the paintbrush. Thus, based on this visual cue, the participants can properly predict the timepoint at which the tactile cue should occur (i.e., visuotactile predictions). Our major finding was that compared with the visible/tactile-only condition, the occulted/synchronous condition did not exhibit a decrease of the RHI as in the visible/synchronous condition. This finding supports the prediction-confirmation account and suggests that this mechanism operates even in the standard version of the RHI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loïc P Heurley
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAE)-Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue, 92001, de La République, Nanterre Cedex, France.
| | - Léa Obrecht
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAE)-Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue, 92001, de La République, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Hélène Vanborren
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAE)-Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue, 92001, de La République, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Fleur Touzard
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAE)-Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue, 92001, de La République, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Thibaut Brouillet
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAE)-Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue, 92001, de La République, Nanterre Cedex, France
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5
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Tan D, Zhang Z, Shi H, Sun N, Li Q, Bi S, Huang J, Liu Y, Guo Q, Jiang C. Bioinspired Artificial Visual-Respiratory Synapse as Multimodal Scene Recognition System with Oxidized-Vacancies MXene. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2407751. [PMID: 39011791 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202407751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024]
Abstract
In the pursuit of artificial neural systems, the integration of multimodal plasticity, memory retention, and perceptual functions stands as a paramount objective in achieving neuromorphic perceptual components inspired by the human brain, to emulating the neurological excitability tuning observed in human visual and respiratory collaborations. Here, an artificial visual-respiratory synapse is presented with monolayer oxidized MXene (VRSOM) exhibiting synergistic light and atmospheric plasticity. The VRSOM enables to realize facile modulation of synaptic behaviors, encompassing postsynaptic current, sustained photoconductivity, stable facilitation/depression properties, and "learning-experience" behavior. These performances rely on the privileged photocarrier trapping characteristics and the hydroxyl-preferential selectivity inherent of oxidized vacancies. Moreover, environment recognitions and multimodal neural network image identifications are achieved through multisensory integration, underscoring the potential of the VRSOM in reproducing human-like perceptual attributes. The VRSOM platform holds significant promise for hardware output of human-like mixed-modal interactions and paves the way for perceiving multisensory neural behaviors in artificial interactive devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongchen Tan
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Zhaorui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Haohao Shi
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Nan Sun
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Qikun Li
- School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an, 710126, China
| | - Sheng Bi
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Jijie Huang
- School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Yiheng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
| | - Qinglei Guo
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Material Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Chengming Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
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6
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Sui J, Rotshtein P, Lu Z, Chechlacz M. Causal Roles of Ventral and Dorsal Neural Systems for Automatic and Control Self-Reference Processing: A Function Lesion Mapping Study. J Clin Med 2024; 13:4170. [PMID: 39064210 PMCID: PMC11278450 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13144170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2024] [Revised: 07/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: Humans perceive and interpret the world through the lens of self-reference processes, typically facilitating enhanced performance for the task at hand. However, this research has predominantly emphasized the automatic facet of self-reference processing, overlooking how it interacts with control processes affecting everyday situations. Methods: We investigated this relationship between automatic and control self-reference processing in neuropsychological patients performing self-face perception tasks and the Birmingham frontal task measuring executive functions. Results: Principal component analysis across tasks revealed two components: one loaded on familiarity/orientation judgments reflecting automatic self-reference processing, and the other linked to the cross task and executive function indicating control processing requirements. Voxel-based morphometry and track-wise lesion-mapping analyses showed that impairments in automatic self-reference were associated with reduced grey matter in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and right inferior temporal gyrus, and white matter damage in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Deficits in executive control were linked to reduced grey matter in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule and left anterior insula, and white matter disconnections in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus and arcuate fasciculus. Conclusions: The causal evidence suggests that automatic and control facets of self-reference processes are subserved by distinct yet integrated ventral prefrontal-temporal and dorsal frontal-parietal networks, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
| | - Pia Rotshtein
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Zhuoen Lu
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
| | - Magdalena Chechlacz
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
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7
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Onoda K, Akama H. Exploring complex and integrated information during sleep. Neurosci Conscious 2024; 2024:niae029. [PMID: 38974800 PMCID: PMC11227102 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niae029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 06/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The Integrated Information Theory is a theoretical framework that aims to elucidate the nature of consciousness by postulating that it emerges from the integration of information within a system, and that the degree of consciousness depends on the extent of information integration within the system. When consciousness is lost, the core complex of consciousness proposed by the Integrated Information Theory disintegrates, and Φ measures, which reflect the level of integrated information, are expected to diminish. This study examined the predictions of the Integrated Information Theory using the global brain network acquired via functional magnetic resonance imaging during various tasks and sleep. We discovered that the complex located within the frontoparietal network remained constant regardless of task content, while the regional distribution of the complex collapsed in the initial stages of sleep. Furthermore, Φ measures decreased as sleep progressed under limited analysis conditions. These findings align with predictions made by the Integrated Information Theory and support its postulates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiichi Onoda
- Department of Psychology, Otemon Gakuin University, 2-1-15, Nishiai, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-8502, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Akama
- Department of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
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8
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Décaillet M, Denervaud S, Huguenin-Virchaux C, Besuchet L, Fischer Fumeaux CJ, Murray MM, Schneider J. The impact of premature birth on auditory-visual processes in very preterm schoolchildren. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:42. [PMID: 38971881 PMCID: PMC11227572 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00257-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Abstract
Interactions between stimuli from different sensory modalities and their integration are central to daily life, contributing to improved perception. Being born prematurely and the subsequent hospitalization can have an impact not only on sensory processes, but also on the manner in which information from different senses is combined-i.e., multisensory processes. Very preterm (VPT) children (<32 weeks gestational age) present impaired multisensory processes in early childhood persisting at least through the age of five. However, it remains largely unknown whether and how these consequences persist into later childhood. Here, we evaluated the integrity of auditory-visual multisensory processes in VPT schoolchildren. VPT children (N = 28; aged 8-10 years) received a standardized cognitive assessment and performed a simple detection task at their routine follow-up appointment. The simple detection task involved pressing a button as quickly as possible upon presentation of an auditory, visual, or simultaneous audio-visual stimulus. Compared to full-term (FT) children (N = 23; aged 6-11 years), reaction times of VPT children were generally slower and more variable, regardless of sensory modality. Nonetheless, both groups exhibited multisensory facilitation on mean reaction times and inter-quartile ranges. There was no evidence that standardized cognitive or clinical measures correlated with multisensory gains of VPT children. However, while gains in FT children exceeded predictions based on probability summation and thus forcibly invoked integrative processes, this was not the case for VPT children. Our findings provide evidence of atypical multisensory profiles in VPT children persisting into school-age. These results could help in targeting supportive interventions for this vulnerable population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Décaillet
- Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Clinic of Neonatology, Department of Mother-Woman-Child, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Solange Denervaud
- Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Cléo Huguenin-Virchaux
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Clinic of Neonatology, Department of Mother-Woman-Child, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laureline Besuchet
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Clinic of Neonatology, Department of Mother-Woman-Child, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Céline J Fischer Fumeaux
- Clinic of Neonatology, Department of Mother-Woman-Child, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Micah M Murray
- Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Schneider
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Clinic of Neonatology, Department of Mother-Woman-Child, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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9
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Ten Brink AF, España MF, Navarro V, Dijkerman HC, Bultitude JH. Investigating Object Affordance in People with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: No Alterations in the Automatic Activation of Motor Plans. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2024; 25:104479. [PMID: 38246251 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2024.01.344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a condition of chronic pain, predominantly affecting one limb. CRPS is characterised by motor changes including slowed or uncoordinated movements. Cognitive processes that drive movement planning and/or execution might contribute to these changes. We aimed to investigate the potential alterations to such cognitive mechanisms using an 'object affordance' paradigm. Object affordance refers to the observation that viewing an object modulates associated motor responses, presumably due to the automatic activation of a motor plan. We hypothesised that people with CRPS would show reduced object affordance effects for their affected compared to unaffected hand, and compared to pain-free controls. First, we validated an online object affordance task involving button press responses to everyday objects with handles, in pain-free participants (n = 63; Experiment 1). Object affordance was reflected by faster and more accurate responses when the object handle was aligned to the responding hand ("aligned") compared to when the handle was aligned to the other hand ("non-aligned"). These results were similar for the online task as when administered in person. Second, in a case-control study, we administered the online object affordance task to people with CRPS predominantly affecting the upper limb (n = 25), and age-matched pain-free controls (n = 68; Experiment 2). People with CRPS responded faster and more accurately in the aligned versus non-aligned condition (ie, an object affordance effect), both for the affected and unaffected hands. There were no differences to pain-free participants. Therefore, object affordance effects were seen in people with CRPS, providing no evidence for altered motor planning. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents research investigating cognitive processes related to motor planning in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Using an online object affordance paradigm, validated in pain-free controls, the authors found that people with CRPS showed intact object affordance effects in the affected and unaffected hand, suggesting unaltered motor planning. DATA AVAILABILITY: The experiment materials, data, pre-processing scripts, and analysis scripts can be found via Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/nc825/files/osfstorage).
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia F Ten Brink
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - María F España
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Valentina Navarro
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Hendrik Chris Dijkerman
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Janet H Bultitude
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Centre for Pain Research, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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10
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Gallese V, Ardizzi M, Ferroni F. Schizophrenia and the bodily self. Schizophr Res 2024; 269:152-162. [PMID: 38815468 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Despite the historically consolidated psychopathological perspective, on the one hand, contemporary organicistic psychiatry often highlights abnormalities in neurotransmitter systems like dysregulation of dopamine transmission, neural circuitry, and genetic factors as key contributors to schizophrenia. Neuroscience, on the other, has so far almost entirely neglected the first-person experiential dimension of this syndrome, mainly focusing on high-order cognitive functions, such as executive function, working memory, theory of mind, and the like. An alternative view posits that schizophrenia is a self-disorder characterized by anomalous self-experience and awareness. This view may not only shed new light on the psychopathological features of psychosis but also inspire empirical research targeting the bodily and neurobiological changes underpinning this disorder. Cognitive neuroscience can today address classic topics of phenomenological psychopathology by adding a new level of description, finally enabling the correlation between the first-person experiential aspects of psychiatric diseases and their neurobiological roots. Recent empirical evidence on the neurobiological basis of a minimal notion of the self, the bodily self, is presented. The relationship between the body, its motor potentialities and the notion of minimal self is illustrated. Evidence on the neural mechanisms underpinning the bodily self, its plasticity, and the blurring of self-other distinction in schizophrenic patients is introduced and discussed. It is concluded that brain-body function anomalies of multisensory integration, differential processing of self- and other-related bodily information mediating self-experience, might be at the basis of the disruption of the self disorders characterizing schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vittorio Gallese
- Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy; Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University, New York, USA.
| | - Martina Ardizzi
- Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferroni
- Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy
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11
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Cirillo E, Zavattaro C, Gammeri R, Serra H, Ricci R, Berti A. Have I Been Touched? Subjective and Objective Aspects of Tactile Awareness. Brain Sci 2024; 14:653. [PMID: 39061394 PMCID: PMC11274638 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2024] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Somatosensory tactile experience is a key aspect of our interaction with the environment. It is involved in object manipulation, in the planning and control of actions and, in its affective components, in the relationships with other individuals. It is also a foundational component of body awareness. An intriguing aspect of sensory perception in general and tactile perception in particular is the way in which stimulation comes to consciousness. Indeed, although being aware of something seems a rather self-evident and monolithic aspect of our mental states, sensory awareness may be in fact modulated by many different processes that impact on the mere stimulation of the skin, including the way in which we perceive our bodies as belonging to us. In this review, we first took into consideration the pathological conditions of absence of phenomenal experience of touch, in the presence of implicit processing, as initial models for understanding the neural bases of conscious tactile experience. Subsequently, we discussed cases of tactile illusions both in normal subjects and in brain-damaged patients which help to understand which high-order processes impact tactile awareness. Finally, we discussed the observations reported in the review in light of some influential models of touch and body representation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Anna Berti
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Turin, Italy; (E.C.); (C.Z.); (R.G.); (H.S.); (R.R.)
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12
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Parma C, Doria F, Zulueta A, Boscarino M, Giani L, Lunetta C, Parati EA, Picozzi M, Sattin D. Does Body Memory Exist? A Review of Models, Approaches and Recent Findings Useful for Neurorehabilitation. Brain Sci 2024; 14:542. [PMID: 38928542 PMCID: PMC11201876 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Over the past twenty years, scientific research on body representations has grown significantly, with Body Memory (BM) emerging as a prominent area of interest in neurorehabilitation. Compared to other body representations, BM stands out as one of the most obscure due to the multifaceted nature of the concept of "memory" itself, which includes various aspects (such as implicit vs. explicit, conscious vs. unconscious). The concept of body memory originates from the field of phenomenology and has been developed by research groups studying embodied cognition. In this narrative review, we aim to present compelling evidence from recent studies that explore various definitions and explanatory models of BM. Additionally, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical settings used to examine BM. The results can be categorized into two main areas: (i) how the body influences our memories, and (ii) how memories, in their broadest sense, could generate and/or influence metarepresentations-the ability to reflect on or make inferences about one's own cognitive representations or those of others. We present studies that emphasize the significance of BM in experimental settings involving patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, ultimately analyzing these findings from an ontogenic perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Parma
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Health Directorate, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (C.P.); (F.D.)
- PhD. Program, Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale e Medical Humanities, Insubria University, 21100 Varese, Italy
| | - Federica Doria
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Health Directorate, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (C.P.); (F.D.)
| | - Aida Zulueta
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Labion, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy;
| | - Marilisa Boscarino
- Neurorehabilitation Department, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (M.B.); (L.G.); (E.A.P.)
| | - Luca Giani
- Neurorehabilitation Department, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (M.B.); (L.G.); (E.A.P.)
| | - Christian Lunetta
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Unit, Neurorehabilitation Department, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy;
| | - Eugenio Agostino Parati
- Neurorehabilitation Department, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (M.B.); (L.G.); (E.A.P.)
| | - Mario Picozzi
- Center for Clinical Ethics, Biotechnology and Life Sciences Department, Insubria University, 21100 Varese, Italy;
| | - Davide Sattin
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Health Directorate, Via Camaldoli 64, 20138 Milan, Italy; (C.P.); (F.D.)
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13
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Coppi S, Jensen KB, Ehrsson HH. Eliciting the rubber hand illusion by the activation of nociceptive C and Aδ fibers. Pain 2024:00006396-990000000-00611. [PMID: 38787634 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
ABSTRACT The coherent perceptual experience of one's own body depends on the processing and integration of signals from multiple sensory modalities, including vision, touch, and proprioception. Although nociception provides critical information about damage to the tissues of one's body, little is known about how nociception contributes to own-body perception. A classic experimental approach to investigate the perceptual and neural mechanisms involved in the multisensory experience of one's own body is the rubber hand illusion (RHI). During the RHI, people experience a rubber hand as part of their own body (sense of body ownership) caused by synchronized stroking of the rubber hand in the participant's view and the hidden participant's real hand. We examined whether the RHI can be elicited by visual and "pure" nociceptive stimulation, ie, without tactile costimulation, and if so, whether it follows the basic perceptual rules of the illusion. In 6 separate experiments involving a total of 180 healthy participants, we used a Nd:YAP laser stimulator to specifically target C and Aδ fibers in the skin and compared the illusion condition (congruent visuonociceptive stimulation) to control conditions of incongruent visuonociceptive, incongruent visuoproprioceptive, and no nociceptive stimulation. The illusion was quantified through direct (questionnaire) and indirect (proprioceptive drift) behavioral measures. We found that a nociceptive rubber hand illusion (N-RHI) could be elicited and that depended on the spatiotemporal congruence of visuonociceptive signals, consistent with basic principles of multisensory integration. Our results suggest that nociceptive information shapes multisensory bodily awareness and contributes to the sense of body ownership.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Karin B Jensen
- Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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14
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Raoul L, Goulon C, Sarlegna F, Grosbras MH. Developmental changes of bodily self-consciousness in adolescent girls. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11296. [PMID: 38760391 PMCID: PMC11101456 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61253-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The body and the self change markedly during adolescence, but how does bodily self-consciousness, the pre-reflexive experience of being a bodily subject, change? We addressed this issue by studying embodiment towards virtual avatars in 70 girls aged 10-17 years. We manipulated the synchrony between participants' and avatars' touch or movement, as well as the avatar visual shape or size relative to each participant's body. A weaker avatar's embodiment in case of mismatch between the body seen in virtual reality and the real body is indicative of a more robust bodily self-consciousness. In both the visuo-tactile and the visuo-motor experiments, asynchrony decreased ownership feeling to the same extent for all participants, while the effect of asynchrony on agency feeling increased with age. In the visuo-tactile experiment, incongruence in visual appearance did not affect agency feeling but impacted ownership, especially in older teenage girls. These findings highlight the higher malleability of bodily self-consciousness at the beginning of adolescence and suggest some independence between body ownership and agency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Raoul
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRPN, Marseille, France
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15
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Woelk SP, Garfinkel SN. Dissociative Symptoms and Interoceptive Integration. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38755513 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Dissociative symptoms and disorders of dissociation are characterised by disturbances in the experience of the self and the surrounding world, manifesting as a breakdown in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, and perception. This paper aims to provide insights into dissociative symptoms from the perspective of interoception, the sense of the body's internal physiological state, adopting a transdiagnostic framework.Dissociative symptoms are associated with a blunting of autonomic reactivity and a reduction in interoceptive precision. In addition to the central function of interoception in homeostasis, afferent visceral signals and their neural and mental representation have been shown to shape emotional feeling states, support memory encoding, and contribute to self-representation. Changes in interoceptive processing and disrupted integration of interoceptive signals into wider cognition may contribute to detachment from the body and the world, blunted emotional experience, and altered subjective recall, as experienced by individuals who suffer from dissociation.A better understanding of the role of altered interoceptive integration across the symptom areas of dissociation could thus provide insights into the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying dissociative disorders. As new therapeutic approaches targeting interoceptive processing emerge, recognising the significance of interoceptive mechanisms in dissociation holds potential implications for future treatment targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sascha P Woelk
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Sarah N Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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16
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Ugolini G, Graf W. Pathways from the superior colliculus and the nucleus of the optic tract to the posterior parietal cortex in macaque monkeys: Functional frameworks for representation updating and online movement guidance. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:2792-2825. [PMID: 38544445 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) integrates multisensory and motor-related information for generating and updating body representations and movement plans. We used retrograde transneuronal transfer of rabies virus combined with a conventional tracer in macaque monkeys to identify direct and disynaptic pathways to the arm-related rostral medial intraparietal area (MIP), the ventral lateral intraparietal area (LIPv), belonging to the parietal eye field, and the pursuit-related lateral subdivision of the medial superior temporal area (MSTl). We found that these areas receive major disynaptic pathways via the thalamus from the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the superior colliculus (SC), mainly ipsilaterally. NOT pathways, targeting MSTl most prominently, serve to process the sensory consequences of slow eye movements for which the NOT is the key sensorimotor interface. They potentially contribute to the directional asymmetry of the pursuit and optokinetic systems. MSTl and LIPv receive feedforward inputs from SC visual layers, which are potential correlates for fast detection of motion, perceptual saccadic suppression and visual spatial attention. MSTl is the target of efference copy pathways from saccade- and head-related compartments of SC motor layers and head-related reticulospinal neurons. They are potential sources of extraretinal signals related to eye and head movement in MSTl visual-tracking neurons. LIPv and rostral MIP receive efference copy pathways from all SC motor layers, providing online estimates of eye, head and arm movements. Our findings have important implications for understanding the role of the PPC in representation updating, internal models for online movement guidance, eye-hand coordination and optic ataxia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella Ugolini
- Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (NeuroPSI), UMR9197 CNRS - Université Paris-Saclay, Campus CEA Saclay, Saclay, France
| | - Werner Graf
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA
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17
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O'Kane SH, Chancel M, Ehrsson HH. Hierarchical and dynamic relationships between body part ownership and full-body ownership. Cognition 2024; 246:105697. [PMID: 38364444 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
What is the relationship between experiencing individual body parts and the whole body as one's own? We theorised that body part ownership is driven primarily by the perceptual binding of visual and somatosensory signals from specific body parts, whereas full-body ownership depends on a more global binding process based on multisensory information from several body segments. To examine this hypothesis, we used a bodily illusion and asked participants to rate illusory changes in ownership over five different parts of a mannequin's body and the mannequin as a whole, while we manipulated the synchrony or asynchrony of visual and tactile stimuli delivered to three different body parts. We found that body part ownership was driven primarily by local visuotactile synchrony and could be experienced relatively independently of full-body ownership. Full-body ownership depended on the number of synchronously stimulated parts in a nonlinear manner, with the strongest full-body ownership illusion occurring when all parts received synchronous stimulation. Additionally, full-body ownership influenced body part ownership for nonstimulated body parts, and skin conductance responses provided physiological evidence supporting an interaction between body part and full-body ownership. We conclude that body part and full-body ownership correspond to different processes and propose a hierarchical probabilistic model to explain the relationship between part and whole in the context of multisensory awareness of one's own body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie H O'Kane
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Marie Chancel
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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18
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Boban L, Boulic R, Herbelin B. In Case of Doubt, One Follows One's Self: The Implicit Guidance of the Embodied Self-Avatar. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS 2024; 30:2109-2118. [PMID: 38437112 DOI: 10.1109/tvcg.2024.3372042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
The sense of embodiment in virtual reality (VR) is commonly understood as the subjective experience that one's physical body is substituted by a virtual counterpart, and is typically achieved when the avatar's body, seen from a first-person view, moves like one's physical body. Embodiment can also be experienced in other circumstances (e.g., in third-person view) or with imprecise or distorted visuo-motor coupling. It was moreover observed, in various cases of small or progressive temporal and spatial manipulations of avatars' movements, that participants may spontaneously follow the movement shown by the avatar. The present work investigates whether, in some specific contexts, participants would follow what their avatar does even when large movement discrepancies occur, thereby extending the scope of understanding of the self-avatar follower effect beyond subtle changes of motion or speed manipulations. We conducted an experimental study in which we introduced uncertainty about which movement to perform at specific times and analyzed participants' movements and subjective feedback after their avatar showed them an incorrect movement. Results show that, when in doubt, participants were influenced by their avatar's movements, leading them to perform that particular error twice more often than normal. Importantly, results of the embodiment score indicate that participants experienced a dissociation with their avatar at those times. Overall, these observations not only demonstrate the possibility of provoking situations in which participants follow the guidance of their avatar for large motor distortions, despite their awareness about the avatar movement disruption and on the possible influence it had on their choice, and, importantly, exemplify how the cognitive mechanism of embodiment is deeply rooted in the necessity of having a body.
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19
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Cambi S, Solcà M, Micali N, Berchio C. Cardiac interoception in Anorexia Nervosa: A resting-state heartbeat-evoked potential study. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2024; 32:417-430. [PMID: 38009624 DOI: 10.1002/erv.3049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A deficit in interoception - the ability to perceive, interpret and integrate afferent signals about the physiological state of the body - has been shown in Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and linked to altered hunger sensations, body dysmorphia, and abnormal emotional awareness. The present high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) study aims to assess cardiac interoception in AN and to investigate its neural correlates, using an objective neurophysiological measure. METHOD Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) were computed from 5 min of resting-state EEG and electrocardiogram (ECG) data and compared between individuals with AN (N = 22) and healthy controls (HC) (N = 19) with waveform, topographic, and source imaging analyses. RESULTS Differences in the cortical representation of heartbeats were present between AN and HC at a time window of 332-348 ms after the ECG R-peak. Source imaging analyses revealed a right-sided hypoactivation in AN of brain regions linked to interoceptive processing, such as the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal areas. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using hdEEG to localise the underlying sources of HEPs in AN. Results point to altered interoceptive processing during resting-state in AN. As our participants had a short duration of illness, this might not be the consequence of prolonged starvation. Interventions targeted at interoception could provide an additional tool to facilitate recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Cambi
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marco Solcà
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Nadia Micali
- Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark, Center for Eating and Feeding Disorders Research, Psychiatric Centre Ballerup, Ballerup, Denmark
- University College London, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - Cristina Berchio
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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20
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Cantoni C, Salaris A, Monti A, Porciello G, Aglioti SM. Probing corporeal awareness in women through virtual reality induction of embreathment illusion. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9302. [PMID: 38654060 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59766-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
We capitalized on the respiratory bodily illusion that we discovered in a previous study and called 'Embreathment' where we showed that breathing modulates corporeal awareness in men. Despite the relevance of the issue, no such studies are available in women. To bridge this gap, we tested whether the synchronization of avatar-participant respiration patterns influenced females' bodily awareness. We collected cardiac and respiratory interoceptive measures, administered body (dis)satisfaction questionnaires, and tracked participants' menstrual cycles via a mobile app. Our approach allowed us to characterize the 'Embreathment' illusion in women, and explore the relationships between menstrual cycle, interoception and body image. We found that breathing was as crucial as visual appearance in eliciting feelings of ownership and held greater significance than any other cue with respect to body agency in both women and men. Moreover, a positive correlation between menstrual cycle days and body image concerns, and a negative correlation between interoceptive sensibility and body dissatisfaction were found, confirming that women's body dissatisfaction arises during the last days of menstrual cycle and is associated with interoception. These findings have potential implications for corporeal awareness alterations in clinical conditions like eating disorders and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Cantoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
| | - Andrea Salaris
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Monti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Sapienza University Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
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21
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Ballerini M, Rossi E, Cassioli E, Tarchi L, Marchesi C, Tonna M, Stanghellini G, Ricca V, Castellini G. Psychotic-like anomalous self-experiences in feeding and eating disorders: Their role in eating psychopathology through the mediation of body uneasiness and embodiment and identity disorders. Early Interv Psychiatry 2024. [PMID: 38613397 DOI: 10.1111/eip.13527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychotic-like anomalous self-experiences (ASEs) are core and early features of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, which have been recently also postulated to underlie embodiment disturbance in feeding and eating disorders (FEDs). The present study was aimed at investigating the interplay between ASEs and specific psychopathology in FED. METHODS Ninety persons with Anorexia Nervosa and 41 with Bulimia Nervosa were evaluated with the inventory of psychotic-like anomalous self-experiences (IPASE), identity and eating disorders (IDEA), body uneasiness test (BUT), and eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q). The same assessment was performed for 92 subjects recruited from the general population. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the role of embodiment/identity disorders in mediating the relationship between ASEs and ED psychopathology. RESULTS Patients with FED displayed high scores on IPASE, comparable with people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A significant correlation was also demonstrated between IPASE, BUT and EDE-Q. All IPASE domains were strongly related to feeling extraneous from one's own body by IDEA. All IPASE domains demonstrated a high relationship with BUT Depersonalization scale. A strong correlation was also reported between total scores of IPASE and IDEA. The mediation model confirmed that ASEs impact on FED symptomatology through the mediation of both embodiment/identity disorders and body image. DISCUSSION Anomalous interoceptive processes may represent the first step of a maladaptive process-impairing embodiment, selfhood, and identity in FED. Assessment of ASEs might be a valid tool to identify an early-shared vulnerability of severe disorders characterized by embodiment alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Eleonora Rossi
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Emanuele Cassioli
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Livio Tarchi
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Carlo Marchesi
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma Ospedale Maggiore, Parma, Italy
| | - Matteo Tonna
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma Ospedale Maggiore, Parma, Italy
| | - Giovanni Stanghellini
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
- Centro de Estudios de Fenomenologìa y Psiquiatrìa, 'Diego Portales' University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Valdo Ricca
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
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22
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Chiarella SG, De Pastina R, Raffone A, Simione L. Mindfulness Affects the Boundaries of Bodily Self-Representation: The Effect of Focused-Attention Meditation in Fading the Boundary of Peripersonal Space. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:306. [PMID: 38667102 PMCID: PMC11047477 DOI: 10.3390/bs14040306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2024] [Revised: 03/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Peripersonal space (PPS) is a dynamic multisensory representation of the space around the body, influenced by internal and external sensory information. The malleability of PPS boundaries, as evidenced by their expansion after tool use or modulation through social interactions, positions PPS as a crucial element in understanding the subjective experiences of self and otherness. Building on the existing literature highlighting both the cognitive and bodily effects of mindfulness meditation, this study proposes a novel approach by employing focused-attention meditation (FAM) and a multisensory audio-tactile task to assess PPS in both the extension and sharpness of its boundaries. The research hypothesis posits that FAM, which emphasizes heightened attention to bodily sensations and interoception, may reduce the extension of PPS and make its boundaries less sharp. We enrolled 26 non-meditators who underwent a repeated measure design in which they completed the PPS task before and after a 15-min FAM induction. We found a significant reduction in the sharpness of PPS boundaries but no significant reduction in PPS extension. These results provide novel insights into the immediate effects of FAM on PPS, potentially shedding light on the modulation of self-other representations in both cognitive and bodily domains. Indeed, our findings could have implications for understanding the intricate relationship between mindfulness practices and the subjective experience of self within spatial contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy
- International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Riccardo De Pastina
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (R.D.P.); (A.R.)
| | - Antonino Raffone
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (R.D.P.); (A.R.)
| | - Luca Simione
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche e Sociali Internazionali, UNINT, Università degli Studi Internazionali di Roma, 00147 Rome, Italy
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23
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Provenzano L, Gohlke H, Saetta G, Bufalari I, Lenggenhager B, Lesur MR. Fluid face but not gender: Enfacement illusion through digital face filters does not affect gender identity. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0295342. [PMID: 38568979 PMCID: PMC10990241 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
It has been shown that observing a face being touched or moving in synchrony with our own face increases self-identification with the former which might alter both cognitive and affective processes. The induction of this phenomenon, termed enfacement illusion, has often relied on laboratory tools that are unavailable to a large audience. However, digital face filters applications are nowadays regularly used and might provide an interesting tool to study similar mechanisms in a wider population. Digital filters are able to render our faces in real time while changing important facial features, for example, rendering them more masculine or feminine according to normative standards. Recent literature using full-body illusions has shown that participants' own gender identity shifts when embodying a different gendered avatar. Here we studied whether participants' filtered faces, observed while moving in synchrony with their own face, may induce an enfacement illusion and if so, modulate their gender identity. We collected data from 35 female and 33 male participants who observed a stereotypically gender mismatched version of themselves either moving synchronously or asynchronously with their own face on a screen. Our findings showed a successful induction of the enfacement illusion in the synchronous condition according to a questionnaire addressing the feelings of ownership, agency and perceived similarity. However, we found no evidence of gender identity being modulated, neither in explicit nor in implicit measures of gender identification. We discuss the distinction between full-body and facial processing and the relevance of studying widely accessible devices that may impact the sense of a bodily self and our cognition, emotion and behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Provenzano
- Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
| | - Hanna Gohlke
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gianluca Saetta
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Professorship for Social Brain Sciences, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ilaria Bufalari
- Department of Psychology of Developmental and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Marte Roel Lesur
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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24
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Pastor A, Bourdin-Kreitz P. Comparing episodic memory outcomes from walking augmented reality and stationary virtual reality encoding experiences. Sci Rep 2024; 14:7580. [PMID: 38555291 PMCID: PMC10981735 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57668-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Episodic Memory (EM) is the neurocognitive capacity to consciously recollect personally experienced events in specific spatio-temporal contexts. Although the relevance of spatial and temporal information is widely acknowledged in the EM literature, it remains unclear whether and how EM performance and organisation is modulated by self-motion, and by motor- and visually- salient environmental features (EFs) of the encoding environment. This study examines whether and how EM is modulated by locomotion and the EFs encountered in a controlled lifelike learning route within a large-scale building. Twenty-eight healthy participants took part in a museum-tour encoding task implemented in walking Augmented Reality (AR) and stationary Virtual Reality (VR) conditions. EM performance and organisation were assessed immediately and 48-hours after trials using a Remember/Familiar recognition paradigm. Results showed a significant positive modulation effect of locomotion on distinctive EM aspects. Findings highlighted a significant performance enhancement effect of stairway-adjacent locations compared to dead-end and mid-route stimuli-presentation locations. The results of this study may serve as design criteria to facilitate neurocognitive rehabilitative interventions of EM. The underlying technological framework developed for this study represents a novel and ecologically sound method for evaluating EM processes in lifelike situations, allowing researchers a naturalistic perspective into the complex nature of EM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvaro Pastor
- XR-Lab, Research-HUB, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
- Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunication Department, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pierre Bourdin-Kreitz
- XR-Lab, Research-HUB, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
- Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunication Department, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
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25
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Moon HJ, Albert L, De Falco E, Tasu C, Gauthier B, Park HD, Blanke O. Changes in spatial self-consciousness elicit grid cell-like representation in the entorhinal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2315758121. [PMID: 38489383 PMCID: PMC10962966 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2315758121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex (EC) encode an individual's location in space, integrating both environmental and multisensory bodily cues. Notably, body-derived signals are also primary signals for the sense of self. While studies have demonstrated that continuous application of visuo-tactile bodily stimuli can induce perceptual shifts in self-location, it remains unexplored whether these illusory changes suffice to trigger grid cell-like representation (GCLR) within the EC, and how this compares to GCLR during conventional virtual navigation. To address this, we systematically induced illusory drifts in self-location toward controlled directions using visuo-tactile bodily stimulation, while maintaining the subjects' visual viewpoint fixed (absent conventional virtual navigation). Subsequently, we evaluated the corresponding GCLR in the EC through functional MRI analysis. Our results reveal that illusory changes in perceived self-location (independent of changes in environmental navigation cues) can indeed evoke entorhinal GCLR, correlating in strength with the magnitude of perceived self-location, and characterized by similar grid orientation as during conventional virtual navigation in the same virtual room. These data demonstrate that the same grid-like representation is recruited when navigating based on environmental, mainly visual cues, or when experiencing illusory forward drifts in self-location, driven by perceptual multisensory bodily cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyuk-June Moon
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Bionics Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul02792, Republic of Korea
| | - Louis Albert
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
| | - Emanuela De Falco
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
| | - Corentin Tasu
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
| | - Baptiste Gauthier
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Clinical Research Unit, Cantonal Hospital, Neuchâtel2000, Switzerland
| | - Hyeong-Dong Park
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Geneva1202, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva1205, Switzerland
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De Falco E, Solcà M, Bernasconi F, Babo-Rebelo M, Young N, Sammartino F, Tallon-Baudry C, Navarro V, Rezai AR, Krishna V, Blanke O. Single neurons in the thalamus and subthalamic nucleus process cardiac and respiratory signals in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2316365121. [PMID: 38451949 PMCID: PMC10945861 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316365121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Visceral signals are constantly processed by our central nervous system, enable homeostatic regulation, and influence perception, emotion, and cognition. While visceral processes at the cortical level have been extensively studied using non-invasive imaging techniques, very few studies have investigated how this information is processed at the single neuron level, both in humans and animals. Subcortical regions, relaying signals from peripheral interoceptors to cortical structures, are particularly understudied and how visceral information is processed in thalamic and subthalamic structures remains largely unknown. Here, we took advantage of intraoperative microelectrode recordings in patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation (DBS) to investigate the activity of single neurons related to cardiac and respiratory functions in three subcortical regions: ventral intermedius nucleus (Vim) and ventral caudalis nucleus (Vc) of the thalamus, and subthalamic nucleus (STN). We report that the activity of a large portion of the recorded neurons (about 70%) was modulated by either the heartbeat, the cardiac inter-beat interval, or the respiration. These cardiac and respiratory response patterns varied largely across neurons both in terms of timing and their kind of modulation. A substantial proportion of these visceral neurons (30%) was responsive to more than one of the tested signals, underlining specialization and integration of cardiac and respiratory signals in STN and thalamic neurons. By extensively describing single unit activity related to cardiorespiratory function in thalamic and subthalamic neurons, our results highlight the major role of these subcortical regions in the processing of visceral signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuela De Falco
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute–West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Marco Solcà
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva1205, Switzerland
| | - Fosco Bernasconi
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne1015, Switzerland
| | - Mariana Babo-Rebelo
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne1015, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Young
- Medical Department, SpecialtyCare, Brentwood, TN37027
| | - Francesco Sammartino
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH43210
| | - Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure-Paris Sciences et Lettres University, Inserm, Paris75005, France
| | - Vincent Navarro
- Sorbonne Université, Paris Brain Institute—Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Inserm, CNRS, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Epilepsy Unit, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris75013, France
| | - Ali R. Rezai
- Department of Neurosurgery, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute—West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Vibhor Krishna
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Durham, NC27516
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne1015, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva1205, Switzerland
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Albert L, Potheegadoo J, Herbelin B, Bernasconi F, Blanke O. Numerosity estimation of virtual humans as a digital-robotic marker for hallucinations in Parkinson's disease. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1905. [PMID: 38472203 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45912-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Hallucinations are frequent non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) associated with dementia and higher mortality. Despite their high clinical relevance, current assessments of hallucinations are based on verbal self-reports and interviews that are limited by important biases. Here, we used virtual reality (VR), robotics, and digital online technology to quantify presence hallucination (vivid sensations that another person is nearby when no one is actually present and can neither be seen nor heard) in laboratory and home-based settings. We establish that elevated numerosity estimation of virtual human agents in VR is a digital marker for experimentally induced presence hallucinations in healthy participants, as confirmed across several control conditions and analyses. We translated the digital marker (numerosity estimation) to an online procedure that 170 PD patients carried out remotely at their homes, revealing that PD patients with disease-related presence hallucinations (but not control PD patients) showed higher numerosity estimation. Numerosity estimation enables quantitative monitoring of hallucinations, is an easy-to-use unobtrusive online method, reaching people far away from medical centers, translating neuroscientific findings using robotics and VR, to patients' homes without specific equipment or trained staff.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis Albert
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jevita Potheegadoo
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Herbelin
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Fosco Bernasconi
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Shrestha AB, Taha AM, Siddiq A, Shrestha S, Thakur P, Chapagain S, Sharma S, Halder A, Rajak K, Shah V. Virtual and augmented reality in cardiovascular care in low and middle income country. Curr Probl Cardiol 2024; 49:102380. [PMID: 38191103 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2024.102380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
The global health sector has witnessed an escalating integration of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, particularly in high-income countries. The application of these cutting-edge technologies is gradually extending to Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), notably in the domain of cardiovascular care. AR and VR technologies are revolutionizing cardiovascular care by offering solutions for diagnosis, medical training, and surgical planning. AR and VR provide detailed and immersive visualizations of cardiac structures, aiding in diagnosis and intervention planning. In cardiovascular care, VR reduces patient-reported pain, eases anxiety, and accelerates post-procedural recovery. AR and VR are also valuable for life support training, creating immersive and controlled learning environments. AR and VR have the potential to significantly impact healthcare in low- and middle-income countries with enhanced accessibility and affordability. This review outlines the existing spectrum of VR and AR adoption and its burgeoning utility in the cardiovascular domain within LMICs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhigan Babu Shrestha
- Department of Internal medicine, M Abdur Rahim Medical College, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.
| | | | | | | | - Prince Thakur
- Nepalgunj Medical College and Research Institute, Nepalgunj, Nepal
| | | | | | - Anupam Halder
- Department of Internal Medicine, UPMC Harrisburg, PA, United States
| | - Kripa Rajak
- Department of Internal Medicine, UPMC Harrisburg, PA, United States
| | - Vaibhav Shah
- Department of Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai- Elmhurst Hospital Centre, New York, United States
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29
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Lanfranco RC, Chancel M, Ehrsson HH. Texture congruence modulates perceptual bias but not sensitivity to visuotactile stimulation during the rubber hand illusion. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:100-110. [PMID: 38263367 PMCID: PMC10827897 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01155-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
The sense of body ownership is the feeling that one's body belongs to oneself. To study body ownership, researchers use bodily illusions, such as the rubber hand illusion (RHI), which involves experiencing a visible rubber hand as part of one's body when the rubber hand is stroked simultaneously with the hidden real hand. The RHI is based on a combination of vision, touch, and proprioceptive information following the principles of multisensory integration. It has been posited that texture incongruence between rubber hand and real hand weakens the RHI, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To investigate this, we recently developed a novel psychophysical RHI paradigm. Based on fitting psychometric functions, we discovered the RHI resulted in shifts in the point of subjective equality when the rubber hand and the real hand were stroked with matching materials. We analysed these datasets further by using signal detection theory analysis, which distinguishes between the participants' sensitivity to visuotactile stimulation and the associated perceptual bias. We found that texture incongruence influences the RHI's perceptual bias but not its sensitivity to visuotactile stimulation. We observed that the texture congruence bias effect was the strongest in shorter visuotactile asynchronies (50-100 ms) and weaker in longer asynchronies (200 ms). These results suggest texture-related perceptual bias is most prominent when the illusion's sensitivity is at its lowest. Our findings shed light on the intricate interactions between top-down and bottom-up processes in body ownership, the links between body ownership and multisensory integration, and the impact of texture congruence on the RHI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renzo C Lanfranco
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, 171 65, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Marie Chancel
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, 171 65, Stockholm, Sweden
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, 171 65, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Orepic P, Bernasconi F, Faggella M, Faivre N, Blanke O. Robotically-induced auditory-verbal hallucinations: combining self-monitoring and strong perceptual priors. Psychol Med 2024; 54:569-581. [PMID: 37779256 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723002222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Inducing hallucinations under controlled experimental conditions in non-hallucinating individuals represents a novel research avenue oriented toward understanding complex hallucinatory phenomena, avoiding confounds observed in patients. Auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVH) are one of the most common and distressing psychotic symptoms, whose etiology remains largely unknown. Two prominent accounts portray AVH either as a deficit in auditory-verbal self-monitoring, or as a result of overly strong perceptual priors. METHODS In order to test both theoretical models and evaluate their potential integration, we developed a robotic procedure able to induce self-monitoring perturbations (consisting of sensorimotor conflicts between poking movements and corresponding tactile feedback) and a perceptual prior associated with otherness sensations (i.e. feeling the presence of a non-existing another person). RESULTS Here, in two independent studies, we show that this robotic procedure led to AVH-like phenomena in healthy individuals, quantified as an increase in false alarm rate in a voice detection task. Robotically-induced AVH-like sensations were further associated with delusional ideation and to both AVH accounts. Specifically, a condition with stronger sensorimotor conflicts induced more AVH-like sensations (self-monitoring), while, in the otherness-related experimental condition, there were more AVH-like sensations when participants were detecting other-voice stimuli, compared to detecting self-voice stimuli (strong-priors). CONCLUSIONS By demonstrating an experimental procedure able to induce AVH-like sensations in non-hallucinating individuals, we shed new light on AVH phenomenology, thereby integrating self-monitoring and strong-priors accounts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavo Orepic
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Fosco Bernasconi
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Melissa Faggella
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Nathan Faivre
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Crucianelli L, Reader AT, Ehrsson HH. Subcortical contributions to the sense of body ownership. Brain 2024; 147:390-405. [PMID: 37847057 PMCID: PMC10834261 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The sense of body ownership (i.e. the feeling that our body or its parts belong to us) plays a key role in bodily self-consciousness and is believed to stem from multisensory integration. Experimental paradigms such as the rubber hand illusion have been developed to allow the controlled manipulation of body ownership in laboratory settings, providing effective tools for investigating malleability in the sense of body ownership and the boundaries that distinguish self from other. Neuroimaging studies of body ownership converge on the involvement of several cortical regions, including the premotor cortex and posterior parietal cortex. However, relatively less attention has been paid to subcortical structures that may also contribute to body ownership perception, such as the cerebellum and putamen. Here, on the basis of neuroimaging and neuropsychological observations, we provide an overview of relevant subcortical regions and consider their potential role in generating and maintaining a sense of ownership over the body. We also suggest novel avenues for future research targeting the role of subcortical regions in making sense of the body as our own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crucianelli
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4DQ, UK
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 65, Sweden
| | - Arran T Reader
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 65, Sweden
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Cai Y, Yang H, Wang X, Xiong Z, Kühn S, Bi Y, Wei K. Neural correlates of an illusionary sense of agency caused by virtual reality. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad547. [PMID: 38365271 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Sense of agency (SoA) is the sensation that self-actions lead to ensuing perceptual consequences. The prospective mechanism emphasizes that SoA arises from motor prediction and its comparison with actual action outcomes, while the reconstructive mechanism stresses that SoA emerges from retrospective causal processing about the action outcomes. Consistent with the prospective mechanism, motor planning regions were identified by neuroimaging studies using the temporal binding (TB) effect, a behavioral measure often linked to implicit SoA. Yet, TB also occurs during passive observation of another's action, lending support to the reconstructive mechanism, but its neural correlates remain unexplored. Here, we employed virtual reality (VR) to modulate such observation-based SoA and examined it with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After manipulating an avatar hand in VR, participants passively observed an avatar's "action" and showed a significant increase in TB. The binding effect was associated with the right angular gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, which are critical nodes for inferential and agency processing. These results suggest that the experience of controlling an avatar may potentiate inferential processing within the right inferior parietal cortex and give rise to the illusionary SoA without voluntary action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyang Cai
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Huichao Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xiaosha Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Ziyi Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Simone Kühn
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
- Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Yanchao Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Kunlin Wei
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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Wu HP, Nakul E, Betka S, Lance F, Herbelin B, Blanke O. Out-of-body illusion induced by visual-vestibular stimulation. iScience 2024; 27:108547. [PMID: 38161418 PMCID: PMC10755362 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are characterized by the subjective feeling of being located outside one's physical body and perceiving one's own body from an elevated perspective looking downwards. OBEs have been correlated with abnormal integration of bodily signals, including visual and vestibular information. In two studies, we used mixed reality combined with a motion platform to manipulate visual and vestibular integration in healthy participants. Behavioral data and questionnaires show that congruent visual-vestibular stimulation in a self-centered reference frame induced an OBE-like illusion characterized by elevated self-location and feelings of disembodiment and lightness. The OBE-like illusion was also modulated by individuals' visual field dependency assessed by the Rod and Frame Test. These results show that the manipulation of visual-vestibular stimulation in the present study induces various aspects of OBEs and further link OBE to congruency mechanisms between visual and vestibular gravitational and self-motion cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Ping Wu
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Estelle Nakul
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sophie Betka
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Florian Lance
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Herbelin
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Iriye H, Chancel M, Ehrsson HH. Sense of own body shapes neural processes of memory encoding and reinstatement. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad443. [PMID: 38012107 PMCID: PMC10793569 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
How is the fundamental sense of one's body, a basic aspect of selfhood, incorporated into memories for events? Disrupting bodily self-awareness during encoding impairs functioning of the left posterior hippocampus during retrieval, which implies weakened encoding. However, how changes in bodily self-awareness influence neural encoding is unknown. We investigated how the sense of body ownership, a core aspect of the bodily self, impacts encoding in the left posterior hippocampus and additional core memory regions including the angular gyrus. Furthermore, we assessed the degree to which memories are reinstated according to body ownership during encoding and vividness during retrieval as a measure of memory strength. We immersed participants in naturalistic scenes where events unfolded while we manipulated feelings of body ownership with a full-body-illusion during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. One week later, participants retrieved memories for the videos during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. A whole brain analysis revealed that patterns of activity in regions including the right hippocampus and angular gyrus distinguished between events encoded with strong versus weak body ownership. A planned region-of-interest analysis showed that patterns of activity in the left posterior hippocampus specifically could predict body ownership during memory encoding. Using the wider network of regions sensitive to body ownership during encoding and the left posterior hippocampus as separate regions-of-interest, we observed that patterns of activity present at encoding were reinstated more during the retrieval of events encoded with strong body ownership and high memory vividness. Our results demonstrate how the sense of physical self is bound within an event during encoding, which facilitates reactivation of a memory trace during retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Iriye
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171-77, Sweden
| | - Marie Chancel
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Henrik H Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171-77, Sweden
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35
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Fang W, Liu Y, Wang L. Multisensory Integration in Body Representation. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2024; 1437:77-89. [PMID: 38270854 DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-7611-9_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
To be aware of and to move one's body, the brain must maintain a coherent representation of the body. While the body and the brain are connected by dense ascending and descending sensory and motor pathways, representation of the body is not hardwired. This is demonstrated by the well-known rubber hand illusion in which a visible fake hand is erroneously felt as one's own hand when it is stroked in synchrony with the viewer's unseen actual hand. Thus, body representation in the brain is not mere maps of tactile and proprioceptive inputs, but a construct resulting from the interpretation and integration of inputs across sensory modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Fang
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yuqi Liu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Liping Wang
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Mine D, Narumi T. The left-right reversed visual feedback of the hand affects multisensory interaction within peripersonal space. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:285-294. [PMID: 37759149 PMCID: PMC10769940 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02788-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
The interaction between vision and touch, known as the crossmodal congruency effect, has been extensively investigated in several research studies. Recent studies have revealed that the crossmodal congruency effect involves body representations. However, it is unclear how bodily information (e.g., location, posture, motion) is linked to visual and tactile inputs. Three experiments were conducted to investigate this issue. In Experiment 1, participants performed a crossmodal congruency task in which both their hand appearance and the motor trajectories were left-right reversed. The results showed that the crossmodal congruency effect was not observed in the reversal condition, whereas participants showed significant crossmodal congruency in the control condition, in which there was no visual manipulation of the hand. In Experiments 2 and 3, where either the hand appearance or motor trajectory was left-right reversed individually, a significant crossmodal congruency effect was observed. This study demonstrated that visual manipulation of hand appearance and motor trajectories both affected the crossmodal congruency effect, although neither showed a dominant effect that solely altered the crossmodal congruency effect. The present results provide insights into the relationship between visual-tactile interactions and bodily information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Mine
- Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Takuji Narumi
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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37
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Dupraz L, Bourgin J, Pia L, Barra J, Guerraz M. Body ownership and kinaesthetic illusions: Dissociated bodily experiences for distinct levels of body consciousness? Conscious Cogn 2024; 117:103630. [PMID: 38183843 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024]
Abstract
Seeing an embodied humanoid avatar move its arms can induce in the observer the illusion that its own (static) arms are moving accordingly, the kinematic signals emanating from this avatar thus being considered like those from the biological body. Here, we investigated the causal relationship between these kinaesthetic illusions and the illusion of body ownership, manipulated through visuomotor synchronisation. The results of two experiments revealed that the sense of body ownership over an avatar seen from a first-person perspective was intimately linked to visuomotor synchrony. This was not the case for kinaesthetic illusions indicating that when superimposed on the biological body, the avatar is inevitably treated at the sensorimotor level as one's own body, whether consciously considered as such or not. The question of whether these two bodily experiences (body ownership and kinaesthetic illusion) are underpinned by distinct representations, the body image, and the body schema, is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Dupraz
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Jessica Bourgin
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, LIP/PC2S, Grenoble, France
| | - Lorenzo Pia
- Psychology Department & Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of Turin, Italy
| | - Julien Barra
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Michel Guerraz
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, 38000 Grenoble, France.
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38
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Zhao Y, Lu E, Zeng Y. Brain-inspired bodily self-perception model for robot rubber hand illusion. PATTERNS (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 4:100888. [PMID: 38106608 PMCID: PMC10724368 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2023.100888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
The core of bodily self-consciousness involves perceiving ownership of one's body. A central question is how body illusions like the rubber hand illusion (RHI) occur. Existing theoretical models still lack satisfying computational explanations from connectionist perspectives, especially for how the brain encodes body perception and generates illusions from neuronal interactions. Moreover, the integration of disability experiments is also neglected. Here, we integrate biological findings of bodily self-consciousness to propose a brain-inspired bodily self-perception model by which perceptions of bodily self are autonomously constructed without any supervision signals. We successfully validated the model with six RHI experiments and a disability experiment on an iCub humanoid robot and simulated environments. The results show that our model can not only well-replicate the behavioral and neural data of monkeys in biological experiments but also reasonably explain the causes and results of RHI at the neuronal level, thus contributing to the revelation of mechanisms underlying RHI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxuan Zhao
- Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Lab, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Enmeng Lu
- Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Lab, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yi Zeng
- Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Lab, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Center for Long-term Artificial Intelligence, Beijing, China
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39
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Bufacchi RJ, Battaglia-Mayer A, Iannetti GD, Caminiti R. Cortico-spinal modularity in the parieto-frontal system: A new perspective on action control. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 231:102537. [PMID: 37832714 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Classical neurophysiology suggests that the motor cortex (MI) has a unique role in action control. In contrast, this review presents evidence for multiple parieto-frontal spinal command modules that can bypass MI. Five observations support this modular perspective: (i) the statistics of cortical connectivity demonstrate functionally-related clusters of cortical areas, defining functional modules in the premotor, cingulate, and parietal cortices; (ii) different corticospinal pathways originate from the above areas, each with a distinct range of conduction velocities; (iii) the activation time of each module varies depending on task, and different modules can be activated simultaneously; (iv) a modular architecture with direct motor output is faster and less metabolically expensive than an architecture that relies on MI, given the slow connections between MI and other cortical areas; (v) lesions of the areas composing parieto-frontal modules have different effects from lesions of MI. Here we provide examples of six cortico-spinal modules and functions they subserve: module 1) arm reaching, tool use and object construction; module 2) spatial navigation and locomotion; module 3) grasping and observation of hand and mouth actions; module 4) action initiation, motor sequences, time encoding; module 5) conditional motor association and learning, action plan switching and action inhibition; module 6) planning defensive actions. These modules can serve as a library of tools to be recombined when faced with novel tasks, and MI might serve as a recombinatory hub. In conclusion, the availability of locally-stored information and multiple outflow paths supports the physiological plausibility of the proposed modular perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Bufacchi
- Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy; International Center for Primate Brain Research (ICPBR), Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai, China
| | - A Battaglia-Mayer
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome, Sapienza, Italy
| | - G D Iannetti
- Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London (UCL), London, UK
| | - R Caminiti
- Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy.
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40
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Bertoni T, Paladino MP, Pellencin E, Serino S, Serino A. Space for power: feeling powerful over others' behavior affects peri-personal space representation. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:2779-2793. [PMID: 37864582 PMCID: PMC10635978 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06719-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/23/2023]
Abstract
We investigated whether and how social power affects the representation of peri-personal space (PPS). We applied a multisensory interaction task to assess PPS representation and the Personal Sense of Power Scale to assess participants' feelings of power over others' behaviors and over others' opinions. In Study 1, we probed PPS representation in a virtual social context. Participants with a higher sense of power showed a less defined differentiation between the close and far space as compared to participants with a lower sense of power. This effect was replicated in Study 2 when participants performed the task in a non-social context (with no person in the scene), but only after they were reminded of an episode of power. Thus, social power-the perception of power over others' behavior-affects the multisensory representation of the self in space by blurring the differentiation between one's own PPS and the space of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Bertoni
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Maria Paola Paladino
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Elisa Pellencin
- Neurology V and Neuropathology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Serino
- Department of Psychology, Università Degli Studi Milano-Bicocca, Piazza Dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126, Milan, MI, Italy.
| | - Andrea Serino
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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41
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Rabellino D, Thome J, Densmore M, Théberge J, McKinnon MC, Lanius RA. The Vestibulocerebellum and the Shattered Self: a Resting-State Functional Connectivity Study in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Its Dissociative Subtype. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2023; 22:1083-1097. [PMID: 36121553 PMCID: PMC10657293 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-022-01467-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The flocculus is a region of the vestibulocerebellum dedicated to the coordination of neck, head, and eye movements for optimal posture, balance, and orienting responses. Despite growing evidence of vestibular and oculomotor impairments in the aftermath of traumatic stress, little is known about the effects of chronic psychological trauma on vestibulocerebellar functioning. Here, we investigated alterations in functional connectivity of the flocculus at rest among individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its dissociative subtype (PTSD + DS) as compared to healthy controls. Forty-four healthy controls, 57 PTSD, and 32 PTSD + DS underwent 6-min resting-state MRI scans. Seed-based functional connectivity analyses using the right and left flocculi as seeds were performed. These analyses revealed that, as compared to controls, PTSD and PTSD + DS showed decreased resting-state functional connectivity of the left flocculus with cortical regions involved in bodily self-consciousness, including the temporo-parietal junction, the supramarginal and angular gyri, and the superior parietal lobule. Moreover, as compared to controls, the PTSD + DS group showed decreased functional connectivity of the left flocculus with the medial prefrontal cortex, the precuneus, and the mid/posterior cingulum, key regions of the default mode network. Critically, when comparing PTSD + DS to PTSD, we observed increased functional connectivity of the right flocculus with the right anterior hippocampus, a region affected frequently by early life trauma. Taken together, our findings point toward the crucial role of the flocculus in the neurocircuitry underlying a coherent and embodied self, which can be compromised in PTSD and PTSD + DS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Rabellino
- Department of Psychiatry, Western University, University Hospital, (Room C3-103), 339 Windermere Road, London, ON, N6A 5A5, Canada.
- Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
| | - Janine Thome
- Department of Theoretical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maria Densmore
- Department of Psychiatry, Western University, University Hospital, (Room C3-103), 339 Windermere Road, London, ON, N6A 5A5, Canada
- Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
| | - Jean Théberge
- Department of Psychiatry, Western University, University Hospital, (Room C3-103), 339 Windermere Road, London, ON, N6A 5A5, Canada
- Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Margaret C McKinnon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, ON, Canada
- Mood Disorders Program and Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Ruth A Lanius
- Department of Psychiatry, Western University, University Hospital, (Room C3-103), 339 Windermere Road, London, ON, N6A 5A5, Canada
- Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON, Canada
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42
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Harduf A, Panishev G, Harel EV, Stern Y, Salomon R. The bodily self from psychosis to psychedelics. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21209. [PMID: 38040825 PMCID: PMC10692325 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47600-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The sense of self is a foundational element of neurotypical human consciousness. We normally experience the world as embodied agents, with the unified sensation of our selfhood being nested in our body. Critically, the sense of self can be altered in psychiatric conditions such as psychosis and altered states of consciousness induced by psychedelic compounds. The similarity of phenomenological effects across psychosis and psychedelic experiences has given rise to the "psychotomimetic" theory suggesting that psychedelics simulate psychosis-like states. Moreover, psychedelic-induced changes in the sense of self have been related to reported improvements in mental health. Here we investigated the bodily self in psychedelic, psychiatric, and control populations. Using the Moving Rubber Hand Illusion, we tested (N = 75) patients with psychosis, participants with a history of substantial psychedelic experiences, and control participants to see how psychedelic and psychiatric experience impacts the bodily self. Results revealed that psychosis patients had reduced Body Ownership and Sense of Agency during volitional action. The psychedelic group reported subjective long-lasting changes to the sense of self, but no differences between control and psychedelic participants were found. Our results suggest that while psychedelics induce both acute and enduring subjective changes in the sense of self, these are not manifested at the level of the bodily self. Furthermore, our data show that bodily self-processing, related to volitional action, is disrupted in psychosis patients. We discuss these findings in relation to anomalous self-processing across psychedelic and psychotic experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Harduf
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat-Gan, Israel
- The Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Gabriella Panishev
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Eiran V Harel
- Beer Yaakov-Ness Ziona Mental Health Center, Beer Yaakov, Israel
| | - Yonatan Stern
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat-Gan, Israel
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa, 3498838, Haifa, Israel
| | - Roy Salomon
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa, 3498838, Haifa, Israel.
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43
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Orepic P, Iannotti GR, Haemmerli J, Goga C, Park HD, Betka S, Blanke O, Michel CM, Bondolfi G, Schaller K. Experimentally-evidenced personality alterations following meningioma resection: A case report. Cortex 2023; 168:157-166. [PMID: 37716111 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/18/2023]
Abstract
Personality changes following neurosurgical procedures remain poorly understood and pose a major concern for patients, rendering a strong need for predictive biomarkers. Here we report a case of a female patient in her 40s who underwent resection of a large sagittal sinus meningioma with bilateral extension, including resection and ligation of the superior sagittal sinus, that resulted in borderline personality disorder. Importantly, we captured clinically-observed personality changes in a series of experiments assessing self-other voice discrimination, one of the experimental markers for self-consciousness. In all experiments, the patient consistently confused self- and other voices - i.e., she misattributed other-voice stimuli to herself and self-voice stimuli to others. Moreover, the electroencephalogram (EEG) microstate, that was in healthy participants observed when hearing their own voice, in this patient occurred for other-voice stimuli. We hypothesize that the patient's personality alterations resulted from a gradual development of a venous collateral hemodynamic network that impacted venous drainage of brain areas associated with self-consciousness. In addition, resection and ligation of the superior sagittal sinus significantly aggravated personality alterations through postoperative decompensation of a direct frontal lobe compression. Experimentally mirroring clinical observations, these findings are of high relevance for developing biomarkers of post-surgical personality alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavo Orepic
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, NeuroX Institute and Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Giannina Rita Iannotti
- Functional Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Medical Center & Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Julien Haemmerli
- Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Medical Center & Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Cristina Goga
- Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Medical Center & Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Hyeong-Dong Park
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, Shuang-Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Sophie Betka
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, NeuroX Institute and Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, NeuroX Institute and Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Christoph M Michel
- Functional Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Guido Bondolfi
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Medical Center & Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Karl Schaller
- Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Medical Center & Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Moon HJ, Wu HP, De Falco E, Blanke O. Physical Body Orientation Impacts Virtual Navigation Experience and Performance. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0218-23.2023. [PMID: 37932043 PMCID: PMC10683533 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0218-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Most human navigation studies in MRI rely on virtual navigation. However, the necessary supine position in MRI makes it fundamentally different from daily ecological navigation. Nonetheless, until now, no study has assessed whether differences in physical body orientation (BO) affect participants' experienced BO during virtual navigation. Here, combining an immersive virtual reality navigation task with subjective BO measures and implicit behavioral measures, we demonstrate that physical BO (either standing or supine) modulates experienced BO. Also, we show that standing upright BO is preferred during spatial navigation: participants were more likely to experience a standing BO and were better at spatial navigation when standing upright. Importantly, we report that showing a supine virtual agent reduces the conflict between the preferred BO and physical supine BO. Our study provides critical, but missing, information regarding experienced BO during virtual navigation, which should be considered cautiously when designing navigation studies, especially in MRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyuk-June Moon
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Bionics Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
| | - Hsin-Ping Wu
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Emanuela De Falco
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Neuro-X Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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45
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Senel G, Macia-Varela F, Gallego J, Jensen HP, Hornbæk K, Slater M. Imperceptible body transformation in virtual reality: Saliency of self representation. iScience 2023; 26:107938. [PMID: 37876610 PMCID: PMC10590814 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Change blindness (CB) is the perceptual phenomenon whereby people are blind to dramatic changes in their visual environment. In virtual reality (VR) a person's body can be substituted by a life-sized virtual one that moves synchronously with their real body movements as their self-representation. We consider whether CB occurs in VR, and whether there are differences in the case of changes to their own virtual body compared with the body of another. Forty people took part in a Qi Gong lesson in VR led by a virtual instructor. During the lesson both their own and the instructor's face dramatically changed in appearance. Overall, 73% and 85% did not notice the changes to their own and instructor's face respectively. People make iconic inferences about their visual surroundings without sampling detail, and reduced CB in the case of their own body may be a marker for self-representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gizem Senel
- Event Lab, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francisco Macia-Varela
- Event Lab, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jaime Gallego
- Event Lab, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Kasper Hornbæk
- Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mel Slater
- Event Lab, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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46
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Yamagata T, Ichikawa K, Mizutori S, Haruki Y, Ogawa K. Revisiting the relationship between illusory hand ownership induced by visuotactile synchrony and cardiac interoceptive accuracy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17132. [PMID: 37816882 PMCID: PMC10564882 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43990-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Multisensory integration plays an important role in the experience of the bodily self. Recently, the relationship between exteroception and interoception has been actively debated. The first evidence was a report that the susceptibility of the sense of ownership over a fake hand (i.e., illusory hand ownership: IHO) in the typical rubber hand illusion is negatively modulated by the accuracy of the heartbeat perception (i.e., cardiac interoceptive accuracy: CIA). If reliable, this would suggest an antagonism between the exteroceptive and interoceptive cues underlying the bodily self. However, some inconsistent data have been reported, raising questions about the robustness of the initial evidence. To investigate this robustness, we estimated the extent of the modulatory effect of CIA on IHO susceptibility by applying Bayesian hierarchical modeling to two independent datasets. Overall, our results did not support that IHO susceptibility is modulated by CIA. The present estimates with high uncertainty cannot exclude the hypothesis that the relationship between IHO susceptibility and CIA is so weak as to be negligible. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to reach a conclusion about the extent of the modulatory effect. These findings highlight the lack of robustness of key evidence supporting the "antagonism hypothesis".
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Affiliation(s)
- Toyoki Yamagata
- Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
| | - Kaito Ichikawa
- Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Shogo Mizutori
- Department of Behavioral Science, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Yusuke Haruki
- Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Kenji Ogawa
- Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
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47
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Penaud S, Yeh D, Gaston-Bellegarde A, Piolino P. The role of bodily self-consciousness in episodic memory of naturalistic events: an immersive virtual reality study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17013. [PMID: 37813899 PMCID: PMC10562507 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43823-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that the human body plays a critical role in episodic memory. Still, the precise relationship between bodily self-consciousness (BSC) and memory formation of specific events, especially in real-life contexts, remains a topic of ongoing research. The present study investigated the relationship between BSC and episodic memory (EM) using immersive virtual reality (VR) technology. Participants were immersed in an urban environment with naturalistic events, while their visuomotor feedback was manipulated in three within-subjects conditions: Synchronous, Asynchronous, and No-body. Our results show that asynchronous visuomotor feedback and not seeing one's body, compared to synchronous feedback, decrease the sense of self-identification, self-location and agency, and sense of presence. Moreover, navigating in the Asynchronous condition had a detrimental impact on incidental event memory, perceptual details, contextual association, subjective sense of remembering, and memory consolidation. In contrast, participants in the No-Body condition were only impaired in egocentric spatial memory and the sense of remembering at ten-day delay. We discuss these findings in relation to the role of bodily self-representation in space during event memory encoding. This study sheds light on the complex interplay between BSC, sense of presence, and episodic memory processes, and strengthens the potential of embodiment and VR technology in studying and enhancing human cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Penaud
- Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau & Cognition (LMC2 UR 7536), Institut de Psychologie, 71 Ave Édouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
| | - Delphine Yeh
- Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau & Cognition (LMC2 UR 7536), Institut de Psychologie, 71 Ave Édouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
| | - Alexandre Gaston-Bellegarde
- Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau & Cognition (LMC2 UR 7536), Institut de Psychologie, 71 Ave Édouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
| | - Pascale Piolino
- Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau & Cognition (LMC2 UR 7536), Institut de Psychologie, 71 Ave Édouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
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Caputo GB. Strange-face-in-the-mirror illusions: specific effects on derealization, depersonalization, and dissociative identity. J Trauma Dissociation 2023; 24:575-608. [PMID: 37006162 DOI: 10.1080/15299732.2023.2195394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
Anomalous strange-face illusions (SFIs) are produced when mirror gazing under a low level of face illumination. In contrast to past studies in which an observer's task was to pay attention to the reflected face and to perceive potential facial changes, the present research used a mirror gazing task (MGT) that instructed participants to fixate their gaze on a 4-mm hole in a glass mirror. The participants' eye-blink rates were thus measured without priming any facial changes. Twenty-one healthy young individuals participated in the MGT and a control panel-fixation task (staring at a hole in a gray non-reflective panel). The Revised Strange-Face Questionnaire (SFQ-R) indexed derealization (deformations of facial features; FD), depersonalization (bodily face detachment; BD), and dissociative identity (new or unknown identities; DI) scales. Mirror-fixation increased FD, BD, and DI scores compared to panel-fixation. In mirror-fixation, FD scores revealed fading specific to facial features, distinct from "classical" Troxler- and Brewster-fading. In mirror-fixation, eye-blink rates correlated negatively with FD scores. Panel-fixation produced low BD scores, and, in a few participants, face pareidolias as detected on FD scores. Females were more prone to early derealization and males to compartmentalization of a dissociative identity. SFQ-R may be a valuable instrument for measuring face-specific dissociation (FD, BD, DI) produced by MGT. Use of MGT and panel-fixation task for differential diagnoses between schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni B Caputo
- Department of Humanistic Studies (DISTUM), University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy
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Bertoni T, Mastria G, Akulenko N, Perrin H, Zbinden B, Bassolino M, Serino A. The self and the Bayesian brain: Testing probabilistic models of body ownership through a self-localization task. Cortex 2023; 167:247-272. [PMID: 37586137 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Simple multisensory manipulations can induce the illusory misattribution of external objects to one's own body, allowing to experimentally investigate body ownership. In this context, body ownership has been conceptualized as the result of the online Bayesian optimal estimation of the probability that one object belongs to the body from the congruence of multisensory inputs. This idea has been highly influential, as it provided a quantitative basis to bottom-up accounts of self-consciousness. However, empirical evidence fully supporting this view is scarce, as the optimality of the putative inference process has not been assessed rigorously. This pre-registered study aimed at filling this gap by testing a Bayesian model of hand ownership based on spatial and temporal visuo-proprioceptive congruences. Model predictions were compared to data from a virtual-reality reaching task, whereby reaching errors induced by a spatio-temporally mismatching virtual hand have been used as an implicit proxy of hand ownership. To rigorously test optimality, we compared the Bayesian model versus alternative non-Bayesian models of multisensory integration, and independently assess unisensory components and compare them to model estimates. We found that individually measured values of proprioceptive precision correlated with those fitted from our reaching task, providing compelling evidence that the underlying visuo-proprioceptive integration process approximates Bayesian optimality. Furthermore, reaching errors correlated with explicit ownership ratings at the single individual and trial level. Taken together, these results provide novel evidence that body ownership, a key component of self-consciousness, can be truly described as the bottom-up, behaviourally optimal processing of multisensory inputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Bertoni
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Giulio Mastria
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nikita Akulenko
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Henri Perrin
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Boris Zbinden
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Andrea Serino
- MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Engelen T, Solcà M, Tallon-Baudry C. Interoceptive rhythms in the brain. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1670-1684. [PMID: 37697110 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01425-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023]
Abstract
Sensing internal bodily signals, or interoception, is fundamental to maintain life. However, interoception should not be viewed as an isolated domain, as it interacts with exteroception, cognition and action to ensure the integrity of the organism. Focusing on cardiac, respiratory and gastric rhythms, we review evidence that interoception is anatomically and functionally intertwined with the processing of signals from the external environment. Interactions arise at all stages, from the peripheral transduction of interoceptive signals to sensory processing and cortical integration, in a network that extends beyond core interoceptive regions. Interoceptive rhythms contribute to functions ranging from perceptual detection up to sense of self, or conversely compete with external inputs. Renewed interest in interoception revives long-standing issues on how the brain integrates and coordinates information in distributed regions, by means of oscillatory synchrony, predictive coding or multisensory integration. Considering interoception and exteroception in the same framework paves the way for biological modes of information processing specific to living organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahnée Engelen
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Marco Solcà
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, Inserm, Ecole Normale Supérieure PSL University, Paris, France.
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