The development of the bodily self: Children’s responses to the Rubber Hand Illusion

The bodily self is constructed from multisensory information. However, little is known of the relationship between multisensory development and the emerging sense of self. We investigated how multisensory processes underpin the developing sense of bodily self by measuring the strength of the ‘Rubber Hand Illusion’ in young children (4 to 9 years old) and adults. Stroking mode (synchronous vs asynchronous) was varied between subjects. Following this visuotactile stimulation, we measured processes of body localisation using intermanual pointing, and feelings of body ownership using questionnaire responses. Intermanual pointing showed that children were as sensitive as adults to visual-tactile synchrony cues for hand position. Similarly, explicit feelings of embodiment, measured by questionnaire items, were sensitive to visual-tactile integration independent of age. These converging results indicate a visual-tactile pathway to the bodily self which matures by at least 4 years of age. However, regardless of synchrony cues, children’s pointing was more captured by the fake hand than adults, indicating a second, later-maturing process based on visual-proprioceptive information. These findings demonstrate two dissociable processes underlying body representation in early life: an early-maturing visual tactile process controlling hand localisation and ownership, and a later-developing visual-proprioceptive process controlling localisation only. The findings further suggest that hand localisation and ownership may not always be so intimately bound together as adult data would suggest, and therefore call for a reassessment of the systems involved in adult own-body perception.

Download Full-text

The Development of a Cross-Modal Sense of Body Ownership

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797616682464 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 330-337 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Elena Nava ◽

Nadia Bolognini ◽

Chiara Turati

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Self ◽

Age Groups ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Hand Position ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Pointing Task

In this study, we investigated the contribution of tactile and proprioceptive cues to the development of the sense of body ownership by testing the susceptibility of 4- to 5-year-old children, 8- to 9-year-old children, and adults to the somatic rubber-hand illusion (SRHI). We found that feelings of owning a rubber hand in the SHRI paradigm, as assessed by explicit reports (i.e., questionnaire), are already present by age 4 and do not change throughout development. In contrast, the effect of the illusion on the sense of hand position, as assessed by a pointing task, was present only in 8- to 9-year-old children and adults; the magnitude of such capture increased with age. Our findings reveal that tactile-proprioceptive interactions contributed differently to the two aspects characterizing the SRHI: Although the contribution of such interactions to an explicit sense of self was similar across age groups, their contribution to the more implicit recalibration of hand position is still developing by age 9.

Download Full-text

The rubber hand illusion does not influence basic movement

10.31219/osf.io/6dyzq ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Arran T Reader ◽

Victoria S Trifonova ◽

H. Henrik Ehrsson

Keyword(s):

Body Representation ◽

Position Sense ◽

Convincing Evidence ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Hand Position ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Sense Of Ownership ◽

Basic Movement ◽

Proprioceptive Drift

Body ownership refers to the distinct sensation that our observed body belongs to us, which is believed to stem from multisensory integration. The rubber hand illusion (RHI) provides the most well-known evidence for this proposal: synchronous (but not asynchronous) stroking of a fake hand and a participant’s real hidden hand can induce a sense of ownership over the false limb. Whilst the RHI may interfere with object-directed action and alter motor cortical activity, it is not yet clear whether a sense of ownership over an artificial hand has functional consequences for movement production per se. As such, we performed two motion-tracking experiments (n=117) to examine the effects of the RHI on the reaction time, acceleration, and velocity of rapid index finger abduction. We also examined whether subjective components of the illusion and the associated changes in hand position sense (proprioceptive drift) were correlated with changes in the kinematic variables. We observed convincing evidence that the induction of the RHI did not alter any kinematic variables. Moreover, the subjective sensations of rubber hand ownership, referral of touch, and agency did not convincingly correlate with kinematic variables, and nor did proprioceptive drift, suggesting that changes in body representation elicited by the RHI may not influence basic movement. Whilst experiment 1 suggested that individuals reporting a greater sensation of the real hand disappearing performed movements with smaller acceleration and velocity following illusion induction, we did not replicate this effect in a second experiment, suggesting that these effects may be small or not particularly robust.

Download Full-text

Hand ownership and hand position in the rubber hand illusion are uncorrelated

Seeing and Perceiving ◽

10.1163/187847612x646730 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 25 (0) ◽

pp. 52 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nicholas P. Holmes ◽

Tamar R. Makin ◽

Michelle Cadieux ◽

Claire Williams ◽

Katherine R. Naish ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Objective Measure ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Hand Position ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Verbal Reports ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Manual Pointing ◽

Staircase Procedure ◽

Two Measures

The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a multisensory (visual, tactile, proprioceptive) illusion in which participants report body ownership over, mislocalize actual hand position to, and feel touches applied to, the rubber hand. For many years, researchers have used changes in perceived hand position, measured by inter-manual pointing, as a more objective measure of the illusion than verbal reports alone. Despite this reliance, there is little evidence to show that the illusion of hand ownership is directly related to perceived hand position. We developed an adaptive staircase procedure to measure perceived hand position, and tested whether the RHI affected perceived hand position. In two experiments we found a significant illusion of ownership, as well as significant changes in perceived hand position, but these two measures were uncorrelated. In a third experiment using more typical RHI procedures, we again replicated significant illusions of ownership and changes in hand position, but again the measures were uncorrelated. We conclude that viewing and feeling touches applied to a dummy hand results in clear illusions of ownership and changes in hand position, but via independent mechanisms.

Download Full-text

The supernumerary rubber hand illusion revisited: perceived duplication of limbs and visuotactile events

10.31234/osf.io/eskr8 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chenggui Fan ◽

H. Henrik Ehrsson

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

Body Representation ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Real Right ◽

The Real ◽

Skin Conductance Responses ◽

Supernumerary Limbs ◽

Real Hand

A controversial and unresolved issue in cognitive neuroscience is whether humans can experience supernumerary limbs as part of their own body. Some previous experiments have claimed that it is possible to elicit supernumerary hand illusions based on modified versions of the rubber hand illusion. However, other studies have provided conflicting results that suggest that only one rubber hand can be perceived as one’s own. To address this issue, we developed a supernumerary hand illusion paradigm that allowed us to disambiguate ownership of individual rubber hands from simultaneous ownership of two fake hands. In our setup, the participant’s real right hand was hidden under a platform, while two identical right rubber hands were placed in parallel on top of the platform in direct view of the participant. We applied synchronous strokes to both rubber hands and the real hand (SS), synchronous strokes to one rubber hand and the real hand and asynchronous strokes to the other model hand (AS and SA) or asynchronous strokes to both fake hands in relation to the real hand (AA). Our results demonstrate that a genuine illusion of owning two rubber hands can be elicited and that such a supernumerary hand illusion can be isolated from the sense of ownership of a single rubber hand both in terms of questionnaire ratings and threat-evoked skin conductance responses (SCRs). These findings advance our knowledge about the dynamic flexibility and fundamental constraints of body representation and emphasize the importance of correlated afferent signals for causal inference in body ownership.

Download Full-text

The rubber hand illusion in children with autism spectrum disorders: delayed influence of combined tactile and visual input on proprioception

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361311430404 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 406-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

Carissa J. Cascio ◽

Jennifer H. Foss-Feig ◽

Courtney P. Burnette ◽

Jessica L. Heacock ◽

Akua A. Cosby

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

Temporal Integration ◽

Body Representation ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Spectrum Disorders

In the rubber hand illusion, perceived hand ownership can be transferred to a rubber hand after synchronous visual and tactile stimulation. Perceived body ownership and self–other relation are foundational for development of self-awareness, imitation, and empathy, which are all affected in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We examined the rubber hand illusion in children with and without ASD. Children with ASD were initially less susceptible to the illusion than the comparison group, yet showed the effects of the illusion after 6 minutes. Delayed susceptibility to the illusion may result from atypical multisensory temporal integration and/or an unusually strong reliance on proprioception. Children with ASD who displayed less empathy were significantly less likely to experience the illusion than those with more intact ability to express empathy. A better understanding of body representation in ASD may elucidate neural underpinnings of social deficits, thus informing future intervention approaches.

Download Full-text

The body-ownership is unconsciously distorted in the brain: An event-related potential study of rubber hand illusion

Psihologija ◽

10.2298/psi210126002l ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 2-2

Author(s):

Aitao Lu ◽

Xuebin Wang ◽

Xiuxiu Hong ◽

Tianhua Song ◽

Meifang Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Stage ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

The Body ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Proprioceptive Information ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Conflict Monitoring ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Bottom Up ◽

The Brain

Many studies have reported that bottom-up multisensory integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information can distort our sense of body-ownership, producing rubber hand illusion (RHI). There is less evidence about when and how the body-ownership is distorted in the brain during RHI. To examine whether this illusion effect occurs preattentively at an early stage of processing, we monitored the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) component (the index of automatic deviant detection) and N2 (the index for conflict monitoring). Participants first performed an RHI elicitation task in a synchronous or asynchronous setting and then finished a passive visual oddball task in which the deviant stimuli were unrelated to the explicit task. A significant interaction between Deviancy (deviant hand vs. standard hand) and Group (synchronous vs. asynchronous) was found. The asynchronous group showed clear mismatch effects in both vMMN and N2, while the synchronous group had such effect only in N2. The results indicate that after the elicitation of RHI bottom-up integration could be retrieved at the early stage of sensory processing before top-down processing, providing evidence for the priority of the bottom-up processes after the generation of RHI and revealing the mechanism of how the body-ownership is unconsciously distorted in the brain.

Download Full-text

Two-Dimensional Rubber-Hand Illusion: The Dorian Gray Hand Illusion

Multisensory Research ◽

10.1163/22134808-00002473 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (1-2) ◽

pp. 101-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Achille Pasqualotto ◽

Michael J. Proulx

Keyword(s):

Dominant Role ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Body Representation ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Top Down ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Skin Conductance Responses

The rubber-hand illusion provides a window into body representation and consciousness. It has been found that body-ownership extended to numerous hand-like objects. Interestingly, the vast majority of these objects were three-dimensional. We adopted this paradigm by using hand drawings to investigate whether rubber-hand illusion could be extended to two-dimensional hand samples, and we measured skin conductance responses and behavioural variables. The fact that this illusion extended to two-dimensional stimuli reveals the dominant role of top–down information on visual perception for body representation and consciousness.

Download Full-text

Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-84595-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Daniele Romano ◽

Angelo Maravita ◽

Marco Perugini

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Body Representation ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Healthy People ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

The Individual

AbstractThe Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) opened the investigation of the sense of body ownership in healthy people. By putting in slight contrast vision touch and proprioception, healthy people embody a fake hand in one's body representation. The easiness of the procedure, typically measured with a set of questions that capture the subjective experience, favoured its blooming. However, validation studies of embodiment questionnaires are lacking, and the individual differences that contribute to the embodiment received little attention. In our study, 298 participants underwent an RHI procedure following both synchronous and asynchronous (control) visuo-tactile stimulations. The study had multiple aims: (a) to explore the psychometric structure of a 27-items questionnaire largely used in the literature; (b) to build a psychometrically efficient scale to measure embodiment-related phenomena; (c) to explore whether and how individual differences (empathy, self-esteem and mindfulness) are associated with the experience of illusion. We found a relatively simple structure consisting of three components: embodiment of the rubber hand, disembodiment of the biological hand, physical sensations experienced during the procedure. The scales designed were psychometrically reliable and theoretically meaningful, encompassing 18 of the original items. Finally, by adopting a network analysis approach, we found that the embodiment is directly related to empathy and self-esteem, while disembodiment and physical sensation are unrelated to individual personality traits. The study provides substantial evidence to use the embodiment scale as a standard questionnaire for future RHI studies. Additionally, the correlations with personality traits suggest that the embodiment induced by the RHI deeply integrates with the complexity of the individuals and their differences.

Download Full-text

The developing bodily self: How posture constrains body representation in childhood

10.31234/osf.io/62aqc ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Janna M. Gottwald ◽

Laura Bird ◽

Samantha Keenaghan ◽

Clare Diamond ◽

Eliana Zampieri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Representation ◽

The Body ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Tactile Information ◽

Multisensory Information ◽

Proprioceptive Drift

Adults’ body representation is constrained by multisensory information and knowledge of the body such as its possible postures. This study (N = 180) tested for similar constraints in children. Using the rubber hand illusion with adults and 6- to 7-year-olds, we measured proprioceptive drift (an index of hand localisation) and ratings of felt hand ownership. The fake hand was either congruent or incongruent with the participant’s own. Across ages, congruency of posture and visual-tactile congruency yielded greater drift towards the fake hand. Ownership ratings were higher with congruent visual-tactile information, but unaffected by posture. Posture constrains body representation similarly in children and adults, suggesting that children have sensitive, robust mechanisms for maintaining a sense of bodily self.

Download Full-text