That's My Hand! Activity in Premotor Cortex Reflects Feeling of Ownership of a Limb

When we look at our hands, we immediately know that they are part of our own body. This feeling of ownership of our limbs is a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness. We have studied the neuronal counterparts of this experience. A perceptual illusion was used to manipulate feelings of ownership of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 305; no. 5685; pp. 875 - 877
Main Authors Ehrsson, H. Henrik, Spence, Charles, Passingham, Richard E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 06.08.2004
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects
Biological and medical sciences
Body Image
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Brood parasitism
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hand
Hands
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration
Motor cortex
Motor Cortex - physiology
Nervous system
Neurology
Neurons - physiology
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Parietal lobe
Parietal Lobe - physiology
Perception
Perception (Psychology)
Proprioception
Psychological aspects
Rubber
Self perception
Time Factors
Touch
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Vision, Ocular
Human
Motor pathway
Central nervous system
Premotor cortex
Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
Hand
Encephalon
Functional imaging
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Summary:When we look at our hands, we immediately know that they are part of our own body. This feeling of ownership of our limbs is a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness. We have studied the neuronal counterparts of this experience. A perceptual illusion was used to manipulate feelings of ownership of a rubber hand presented in front of healthy subjects while brain activity was measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The neural activity in the premotor cortex reflected the feeling of ownership of the hand. This suggests that multisensory integration in the premotor cortex provides a mechanism for bodily self-attribution.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1097011