Vision of embodied rubber hands enhances tactile distractor processing

Previous research has demonstrated that viewing one’s hand can induce tactile response compatibility effects at the hands. Here, we investigated the question of whether vision of one’s own hand is actually necessary. The Eriksen flanker task was combined with the rubber hand illusion in order to det...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 2015-02, Vol.233 (2), p.477-486
Main Authors: Wesslein, Ann-Katrin, Spence, Charles, Frings, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attention (Psychology)
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Body Image
Female
Hand
Hand - innervation
Humans
Illusions - physiology
Information processing
Male
Neurology
Neurosciences
Photic Stimulation
Psychological aspects
Psychological research
Psychomotor Performance
Psychophysiology
Reaction Time
Research Article
Rubber
Surveys and Questionnaires
Touch
Touch - physiology
Touch Perception - physiology
Vibration
Vision, Ocular - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous research has demonstrated that viewing one’s hand can induce tactile response compatibility effects at the hands. Here, we investigated the question of whether vision of one’s own hand is actually necessary. The Eriksen flanker task was combined with the rubber hand illusion in order to determine whether tactile distractors presented to the hand would be processed up to the level of response selection when a pair of rubber hands was seen (while one’s own hands were not). Our results demonstrate that only if the rubber hands are perceived as belonging to one’s own body, is enhanced distractor processing (up to the level of response selection) observed at the hands. In conclusion, vision of a pair of fake hands enhances tactile distractor processing at the hands if, and only if, it happens to be incorporated into the body representation.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-014-4129-0