From rubber hands to neuroprosthetics: Neural correlates of embodiment

Fabio Castro; Bigna Lenggenhager; Daniel Zeller; Giovanni Pellegrino; Marco D'Alonzo; Giovanni Di Pino

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105351

From rubber hands to neuroprosthetics: Neural correlates of embodiment

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Oct:153:105351. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105351. Epub 2023 Aug 6.

Authors

Fabio Castro¹, Bigna Lenggenhager², Daniel Zeller³, Giovanni Pellegrino⁴, Marco D'Alonzo⁵, Giovanni Di Pino⁶

Affiliations

¹ Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction Research Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University, via Alvaro del Portillo 5, 00128 Rome, Italy; Institute of Sport, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
² Department of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany; Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080 Würzburg, Germany.
⁴ Epilepsy program, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction Research Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University, via Alvaro del Portillo 5, 00128 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: m.dalonzo@unicampus.it.
⁶ Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction Research Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University, via Alvaro del Portillo 5, 00128 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Our interaction with the world rests on the knowledge that we are a body in space and time, which can interact with the environment. This awareness is usually referred to as sense of embodiment. For the good part of the past 30 years, the rubber hand illusion (RHI) has been a prime tool to study embodiment in healthy and people with a variety of clinical conditions. In this paper, we provide a critical overview of this research with a focus on the RHI paradigm as a tool to study prothesis embodiment in individuals with amputation. The RHI relies on well-documented multisensory integration mechanisms based on sensory precision, where parietal areas are involved in resolving the visuo-tactile conflict, and premotor areas in updating the conscious bodily representation. This mechanism may be transferable to prosthesis ownership in amputees. We discuss how these results might transfer to technological development of sensorised prostheses, which in turn might progress the acceptability by users.

Keywords: Amputation; Bodily self; Embodiment; Intersensory conflict; Multisensory integration; Prosthesis; Rubber hand illusion.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

678908/ERC_/European Research Council/International