Direct Electrophysiological Correlates of Body Ownership in Human Cerebral Cortex

Overview

Journal Cereb Cortex

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2018 Nov 30

PMID 30496342

Citations 32

Authors

Arvid Guterstam

Kelly L Collins

Jeneva A Cronin

Hugo Zeberg

Felix Darvas

Kurt E Weaver

Jeffrey G Ojemann

H Henrik Ehrsson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Over the past decade, numerous neuroimaging studies based on hemodynamic markers of brain activity have examined the feeling of body ownership using perceptual body-illusions in humans. However, the direct electrophysiological correlates of body ownership at the cortical level remain unexplored. To address this, we studied the rubber hand illusion in 5 patients (3 males and 2 females) implanted with intracranial electrodes measuring cortical surface potentials. Increased high-γ (70-200 Hz) activity, an index of neuronal firing rate, in premotor and intraparietal cortices reflected the feeling of ownership. In both areas, high-γ increases were intimately coupled with the subjective illusion onset and sustained both during and in-between touches. However, intraparietal activity was modulated by tactile stimulation to a higher degree than the premotor cortex through effective connectivity with the hand-somatosensory cortex, which suggests different functional roles. These findings constitute the first intracranial electrophysiological characterization of the rubber hand illusion and extend our understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of body ownership.

Citing Articles

Body ownership and tactile processing: Effects of bilateral rubber hand illusion on tactile temporal order judgment.

Shibuya S, Ohki Y Iperception. 2024; 15(6):20416695241308146.

PMID: 39735731 PMC: 11672382. DOI: 10.1177/20416695241308146.

Somatosensory cortex and body representation: Updating the motor system during a visuo-proprioceptive cue conflict.

Mirdamadi J, Babu R, Wali M, Seigel C, Hsiao A, Lee-Miller T bioRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 39372754 PMC: 11451642. DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.23.614575.

Eliciting the rubber hand illusion by the activation of nociceptive C and Aδ fibers.

Coppi S, Jensen K, Ehrsson H Pain. 2024; 165(10):2240-2256.

PMID: 38787634 PMC: 11404332. DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003245.

Minimal self-consciousness and the flying man argument.

Gallagher S Front Psychol. 2024; 14:1296656.

PMID: 38169988 PMC: 10760637. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1296656.

Subcortical contributions to the sense of body ownership.

Crucianelli L, Reader A, Ehrsson H Brain. 2023; 147(2):390-405.

PMID: 37847057 PMC: 10834261. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad359.

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