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Self-other bodily merging in the context of synchronous but arbitrary-related multisensory inputs

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Abstract

A debated issue in the multisensory literature concerns the relative contribution of bottom-up sensory components versus top-down cognitive elaborations in contributing to the rise and persistency of bodily illusion. Previous studies, for instance, have shown that simultaneity of sensory inputs and plausibility of the stimulated object play an important role in the rubber hand phenomenon, whereas violation of tactile expectancy does not disrupt the illusory feeling to own a fake hand. The present research examined this issue in the context of the “enfacement” phenomenon (i.e., self-other face-perception modification), using entirely arbitrary and non-ecological pairs of visual and tactile events. Visual and tactile stimulation was matched in terms of spatial location, but not linked by any previously learned associations, making temporal synchrony a critical binding factor. Participants received electro-tactile stimulations on their cheek, while they watched the face of a stranger illuminated on the cheek with a dot of white light. Synchronous (vs. asynchronous) stimulations yielded the enfacement effect. In addition, the stranger stimulated in synchrony was judged as more similar, physically and in terms of personality, and as closer to the self. These findings suggest that synchronous multisensory stimulation on the face can produce both perceptual and social binding, even in the absence of any previously learned associations between the stimulations.

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Notes

  1. In this study, questions about the possibility to control the person shown in the photo, turned out to be inappropriate, if not constructed in a hypothetical way. Therefore, differently from Paladino et al. (2010)’s study, here we dropped the item “It seemed that the face in the video had my same facial expressions”. Moreover, deleting it a larger internal consistency was reached: α = .67 and α = .93 in the synchronous and in the asynchronous stimulation condition. Here only 2 of the 3 items used in Paladino et al. (2010)’s study to assess the illusory perception of agency were retained (see Fig. 1a).

  2. Following Rosenthal’s (1991) indication for each variable of interest, the combined effect size (z 1) was compared to the effect size obtained in the present (z 2) study using the following formula: \( Z = \frac{{z_{1} - z_{2} }}{{\sqrt {\frac{1}{{N_{1} - 3}} + \frac{1}{{N_{2} - 3}}} }} \) where N 1 = 24 (average sample) and N 1 = 18.

     

     

    z 1

    z 2

    Z

    Ownership

    .71

    .68

    .08

    Location

    .88

    .91

    −.09

    Agency

    .65

    .49

    .48

    Similarity on peripheral feature

    .49

    .48

    .00

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Acknowledgment

We thank Massimo Vescovi for the technical support. F.P., M.P.P, and M.M. have been supported by a PRIN grant from MIUR (Italy). This work has been realized also thanks to the support from the Provincia Autonoma di Trento and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto. T.S. has been supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) grant PTDC/PSI-PSO/098949/2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Sciences and Education, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy

    Mara Mazzurega, Francesco Pavani & Maria Paola Paladino

  2. Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy

    Francesco Pavani

  3. Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Av. das Forças Armadas, 1600, Lisbon, Portugal

    Thomas W. Schubert

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  1. Mara Mazzurega
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  2. Francesco Pavani
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  3. Maria Paola Paladino
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  4. Thomas W. Schubert
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Correspondence to Mara Mazzurega.

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Mazzurega, M., Pavani, F., Paladino, M.P. et al. Self-other bodily merging in the context of synchronous but arbitrary-related multisensory inputs. Exp Brain Res 213, 213–221 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2744-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2744-6

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