Action Shapes the Sense of Body Ownership Across Human Development

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2019 Jan 9

PMID 30618937

Citations 8

Authors

Elena Nava

Chiara Gamberini

Agnese Berardis

Nadia Bolognini

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In this study we investigated, both in childhood and adulthood, the role of action in promoting and shaping the sense of body ownership, which is traditionally viewed as dependent on multisensory integration. By means of a novel action-based version of the rubber hand illusion (RHI), in which participants could actively self-stroke the rubber hand, with (Version 1) or without visual feedback (Version 2) of their own actions, we showed that self-generated actions promote the emergence of a sense of ownership over the rubber hand in children, while it interferes with the embodiment of the rubber hand in adults. When the movement is missing (Version 3, i.e., mere view of the rubber hand being stroked concurrently with one's own hand), the pattern of results is reversed, with adults showing embodiment of the rubber hand, but children lacking to do so. Our novel findings reveal a dynamic and plastic contribution of the motor system to the emergence of a coherent bodily self, suggesting that the development of the sense of body ownership is shaped by motor experience, rather than being purely sensory.

Citing Articles

Emergence of sense of body ownership but not agency during virtual tool-use training is associated with an altered body schema.

Najafabadi A, Kuster D, Putze F, Godde B Exp Brain Res. 2023; 241(7):1721-1738.

PMID: 37306754 PMC: 10348991. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06644-3.

Tool-use training in augmented reality: plasticity of forearm body schema does not predict sense of ownership or agency in older adults.

Najafabadi A, Kuster D, Putze F, Godde B Exp Brain Res. 2023; 241(7):1739-1756.

PMID: 37306753 PMC: 10348985. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06645-2.

Editorial: The Next Step in Developmental Embodiment Research: Integrating Concepts and Methods.

Lux V, Gredeback G, Non A, Kruger M Front Syst Neurosci. 2022; 16:871449.

PMID: 35401128 PMC: 8983839. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.871449.

The role of motor memory dynamics in structuring bodily self-consciousness.

Ishikawa R, Ayabe-Kanamura S, Izawa J iScience. 2021; 24(12):103511.

PMID: 34934929 PMC: 8661550. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103511.

Liesner M, Kunde W Front Psychol. 2021; 12:712559.

PMID: 34858253 PMC: 8632364. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712559.

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