The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body.
The full-body ownership illusion exploits multisensory perception to induce a feeling of ownership of an entire artificial body. Although previous research has shown that synchronous visuotactile stimulation of a single body part is sufficient for illusory ownership of the whole body, the effect of...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233243 |
| _version_ | 1819012598128967680 |
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| author | Sophie H O'Kane H Henrik Ehrsson |
| author_facet | Sophie H O'Kane H Henrik Ehrsson |
| author_sort | Sophie H O'Kane |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The full-body ownership illusion exploits multisensory perception to induce a feeling of ownership of an entire artificial body. Although previous research has shown that synchronous visuotactile stimulation of a single body part is sufficient for illusory ownership of the whole body, the effect of combining multisensory stimulation across multiple body parts remains unknown. Therefore, 48 healthy adults participated in a full-body ownership illusion with conditions involving synchronous (illusion) or asynchronous (control) visuotactile stimulation to one, two, or three body parts simultaneously (2×3 design). We used questionnaires to isolate illusory ownership of five specific body parts (left arm, right arm, trunk, left leg, right leg) from the full-body ownership experience and sought to test not only for increased ownership in synchronous versus asynchronous conditions but also for potentially varying degrees of full-body ownership illusion intensity related to the number of body parts stimulated. Illusory full-body ownership and all five body-part ownership ratings were significantly higher following synchronous stimulation than asynchronous stimulation (p-values < .01). Since non-stimulated body parts also received significantly increased ownership ratings following synchronous stimulation, the results are consistent with an illusion that engages the entire body. Furthermore, we noted that ownership ratings for right body parts (which were often but not always stimulated in this experiment) were significantly higher than ownership ratings for left body parts (which were never stimulated). Regarding the effect of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously on explicit full-body ownership ratings, there was no evidence of a significant main effect of the number of stimulations (p = .850) or any significant interaction with stimulation synchronicity (p = .160), as assessed by linear mixed modelling. Instead, median ratings indicated a moderate affirmation (+1) of an illusory full-body sensation in all three synchronous conditions, a finding mirrored by comparable full-body illusion onset times. In sum, illusory full-body ownership appears to be an 'all-or-nothing' phenomenon and depends upon the synchronicity of visuotactile stimulation, irrespective of the number of stimulated body parts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:46:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-931771916d4e4dcfb28b30a054c0a12f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:46:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-931771916d4e4dcfb28b30a054c0a12f2022-12-21T19:20:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01161e023324310.1371/journal.pone.0233243The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body.Sophie H O'KaneH Henrik EhrssonThe full-body ownership illusion exploits multisensory perception to induce a feeling of ownership of an entire artificial body. Although previous research has shown that synchronous visuotactile stimulation of a single body part is sufficient for illusory ownership of the whole body, the effect of combining multisensory stimulation across multiple body parts remains unknown. Therefore, 48 healthy adults participated in a full-body ownership illusion with conditions involving synchronous (illusion) or asynchronous (control) visuotactile stimulation to one, two, or three body parts simultaneously (2×3 design). We used questionnaires to isolate illusory ownership of five specific body parts (left arm, right arm, trunk, left leg, right leg) from the full-body ownership experience and sought to test not only for increased ownership in synchronous versus asynchronous conditions but also for potentially varying degrees of full-body ownership illusion intensity related to the number of body parts stimulated. Illusory full-body ownership and all five body-part ownership ratings were significantly higher following synchronous stimulation than asynchronous stimulation (p-values < .01). Since non-stimulated body parts also received significantly increased ownership ratings following synchronous stimulation, the results are consistent with an illusion that engages the entire body. Furthermore, we noted that ownership ratings for right body parts (which were often but not always stimulated in this experiment) were significantly higher than ownership ratings for left body parts (which were never stimulated). Regarding the effect of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously on explicit full-body ownership ratings, there was no evidence of a significant main effect of the number of stimulations (p = .850) or any significant interaction with stimulation synchronicity (p = .160), as assessed by linear mixed modelling. Instead, median ratings indicated a moderate affirmation (+1) of an illusory full-body sensation in all three synchronous conditions, a finding mirrored by comparable full-body illusion onset times. In sum, illusory full-body ownership appears to be an 'all-or-nothing' phenomenon and depends upon the synchronicity of visuotactile stimulation, irrespective of the number of stimulated body parts.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233243 |
| spellingShingle | Sophie H O'Kane H Henrik Ehrsson The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. PLoS ONE |
| title | The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. |
| title_full | The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. |
| title_fullStr | The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. |
| title_short | The contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body. |
| title_sort | contribution of stimulating multiple body parts simultaneously to the illusion of owning an entire artificial body |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233243 |
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