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Yim Y, Xia Z, Kubota Y, Tanaka F. The proteus effect on human pain perception through avatar muscularity and gender factors. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11332. [PMID: 38783020 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61409-4] [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: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The Proteus effect, which occurs when using an avatar in virtual reality, influences user behavior, changes attitudes, and improves physical performance. Here, we show that human pain perception can be alleviated by the Proteus effect. To investigate the pain alleviation effect of using an avatar in a virtual environment, we conducted two experiments using a head-mounted display and a thermal pain stimulator to induce acute pain. The first experiment involved 20 adult participants, while the second experiment involved 44 adult participants. Experimental results show that participants reported significantly lower pain scores (15.982% reduction), as measured by the Pain Assessment Scale (PAS), when using a muscular avatar than when using a normal avatar. The experiments also revealed several significant gender factors. For example, participants reported significantly lower pain scores when using a gender-congruent avatar. In addition, the use of a muscular avatar was particularly effective for male participants. In contrast, female participants consistently reported lower pain scores when using the avatar regardless of its body type (muscular/normal). To further our understanding, we also measured participants' gender-related pain stereotypes using the Gender Role Expectations of Pain (GREP) questionnaire, as well as participants' sense of embodiment. The results of these questionnaires are consistent with the results of the PAS, suggesting possible relationships between stereotypes and the Proteus effect on pain perception, and between the degree of immersion in an avatar and the user's perception of pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youchan Yim
- University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8573, Japan
| | | | - Yuki Kubota
- University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8573, Japan
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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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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Ho JT, Lenggenhager B, Aglioti SM. Ownership of the affected leg is further reduced following deceptive behaviors in body integrity dysphoria. iScience 2023; 26:107551. [PMID: 37664627 PMCID: PMC10469995 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107551] [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: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Although predicted by the notion of embodied morality, it remains unknown whether a reduced sense of body ownership (SoO) is associated with increased or decreased dishonesty. To clarify this issue, we tested patients with body integrity dysphoria (BID), a clinical condition characterized by chronic reductions of SoO toward one leg that patients persistently desire to have amputated. Participants with BID played a card game in which they could voluntarily tell the truth or cheat an opponent, and thus either steal or give them money. To assess whether SoO toward the effector limb influences (im)moral decisions, responses were communicated with the affected or the unaffected leg. We found that a higher number of self-gain lies was followed by further reductions of SoO toward the affected leg. Our result supports the idea that reductions of SoO may follow immoral behaviors to distance from unwanted characteristics of the self, like one's own dishonesty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome (RM) 00185, Italy
| | - Jasmine T. Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bigna Lenggenhager
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
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Takemoto A, Aispuriete I, Niedra L, Dreimane LF. Differentiating depression using facial expressions in a virtual avatar communication system. Front Digit Health 2023; 5:1080023. [PMID: 36969955 PMCID: PMC10036904 DOI: 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1080023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Depression has a major effect on the quality of life. Thus, identifying an effective way to detect depression is important in the field of human-machine interaction. To examine whether a combination of a virtual avatar communication system and facial expression monitoring potentially classifies people as being with or without depression, this study consists of three research aims; 1) to understand the effect of different types of interviewers such as human and virtual avatars, on people with depression symptoms, 2) to clarify the effect of neutral conversation topics on facial expressions and emotions in people with depression symptoms, and 3) to compare verbal and non-verbal information between people with or without depression. In this study, twenty-seven participants—fifteen in the control group and twelve in the depression symptoms group—were recruited. They were asked to talk to a virtual avatar and human interviewers on both neutral and negative conversation topics and to score PANAS; meanwhile, facial expressions were recorded by a web camera. Facial expressions were analyzed by both manual and automatic analyses. In the manual analysis, three annotators counted gaze directions and reacting behaviors. On the other hand, automatic facial expression detection was conducted using OpenFace. The results of PANAS suggested that there was no significance between different interviewers’ types. Furthermore, in the control group, the frequency of look-downward was larger in negative conversation topics than in neutral conversation topics. The intensity of Dimpler was larger in the control group than in the depression symptoms group. Moreover, the intensity of Chin Raiser was larger in neutral conversation topics than in negative conversation topics in the depression symptoms group. However, in the control groups, there was no significance in the types of conversation topics. In conclusion, 1) there was no significance between human and virtual avatar interviewers in emotions, facial expressions, and eye gaze patterns, 2) neutral conversation topics induced less negative emotion in both the control and depression symptoms group, and 3) different facial expressions’ patterns between people with, or without depression, were observed in the virtual avatar communication system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumi Takemoto
- Faculty of Computing, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia
- Correspondence: Ayumi Takemoto
| | - Inese Aispuriete
- Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and the Arts, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - Laima Niedra
- Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and the Arts, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
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Lesur MR, Stussi Y, Bertrand P, Delplanque S, Lenggenhager B. Different armpits under my new nose: Olfactory sex but not gender affects implicit measures of embodiment. Biol Psychol 2023; 176:108477. [PMID: 36521651 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Conflicting multisensory signals may alter embodiment to produce self-identification with a foreign body, but the role of olfaction in this process has been overlooked. We studied in healthy participants how sex (male and female sweat odors) and gender (male and female cosmetic scents) olfactory stimuli contribute to embodiment. Participants saw, on a head mounted display, the first-person perspective of a sex mismatching person. Synchronous visuotactile stimulation was applied to enhance illusory embodiment. Simultaneously, they smelled either sex- or gender- congruent or incongruent stimuli. We assessed implicit (skin conductance responses to visual threats) and explicit (questionnaire) measures of embodiment. Stronger responses to threat were found when participants smelled the sex-congruent compared to the sex-incongruent odor, while no such differences were found for the cosmetic scents. According to the questionnaire, embodiment did not differ between conditions. Post-experimental assessment of the presented cues, suggest that while both sweat odors were considered generally male, cosmetic scents were not. The presented scents were generally not associated with the embodied body. Our results suggest that sex-related body odors influence implicit but not explicit aspects of embodiment and are in line with unique characteristics of olfaction in other aspects of cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marte Roel Lesur
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; BeAnotherLab, Spain; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
| | - Yoann Stussi
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Bertrand
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Université de Paris, France; BeAnotherLab, Spain
| | - Sylvain Delplanque
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bigna Lenggenhager
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
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Pyasik M, Ciorli T, Pia L. Full body illusion and cognition: A systematic review of the literature. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 143:104926. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Chirico A, Pizzolante M, Kitson A, Gianotti E, Riecke BE, Gaggioli A. Defining Transformative Experiences: A Conceptual Analysis. Front Psychol 2022; 13:790300. [PMID: 35814064 PMCID: PMC9263695 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.790300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The concept of transformative experience (TE) has been widely explored by several disciplines from philosophy to neurobiology, and in different domains, from the spiritual to the educational one. This attitude has engendered heterogeneous models to explain this phenomenon. However, a consistent and clear understanding of this construct remains elusive. The aim of this work is to provide an initial comprehensive interdisciplinary, cross-domain, up-to-date, and integrated overview on the concept of TEs. Firstly, all the models and theories on TEs were reviewed to extract and analyze TEs’ main components emerging from different disciplines. Then, this preliminary analysis was integrated with an in-depth examination of redundancies and particularities across domains and disciplines, to provide an integrated theoretical framework of TEs and a preliminary interdisciplinary operational definition of TEs. This examination, in turn, can help organize current research and theories, thus providing suggestions for operationalizing TEs as well as encouraging new interdisciplinary research endeavors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Chirico
- Department of Psychology, Research Center in Communication Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- *Correspondence: Alice Chirico,
| | - Marta Pizzolante
- Department of Psychology, Research Center in Communication Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Alexandra Kitson
- School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada
| | - Elena Gianotti
- Department of Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Bernhard E. Riecke
- School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada
| | - Andrea Gaggioli
- Department of Psychology, Research Center in Communication Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
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Arora N, Suomalainen M, Pouke M, Center EG, Mimnaugh KJ, Chambers AP, Pouke S, LaValle SM. Augmenting Immersive Telepresence Experience with a Virtual Body. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS 2022; 28:2135-2145. [PMID: 35167457 DOI: 10.1109/tvcg.2022.3150473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We propose augmenting immersive telepresence by adding a virtual body, representing the user's own arm motions, as realized through a head-mounted display and a 360-degree camera. Previous research has shown the effectiveness of having a virtual body in simulated environments; however, research on whether seeing one's own virtual arms increases presence or preference for the user in an immersive telepresence setup is limited. We conducted a study where a host introduced a research lab while participants wore a head-mounted display which allowed them to be telepresent at the host's physical location via a 360-degree camera, either with or without a virtual body. We first conducted a pilot study of 20 participants, followed by a pre-registered 62 participant confirmatory study. Whereas the pilot study showed greater presence and preference when the virtual body was present, the confirmatory study failed to replicate these results, with only behavioral measures suggesting an increase in presence. After analyzing the qualitative data and modeling interactions, we suspect that the quality and style of the virtual arms, and the contrast between animation and video, led to individual differences in reactions to the virtual body which subsequently moderated feelings of presence.
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