After a Hand Was Lent: Sporadically Experiencing Multisensory Interference During the Rubber Hand Illusion Does Not...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• The body representation can adapt to sensorimotor experience, a process known as embodiment.
• Embodiment allows the integration of external objects into the body schema.
• Disembodiment, the removal of an entity from the body representation, is less understood than embodiment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the phenomenon of disembodiment.
• To explore if intermittent visuo-motor mismatches influence the rate of disembodiment.
• To draw parallels with the partial reinforcement extinction effect in instrumental learning.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the moving rubber hand illusion paradigm.
• Compared a continuous condition (regular visuo-motor matching) with an intermittent condition (occasional visuo-motor mismatches).
• Measured the rate of disembodiment after the embodiment induction phase.

Main Results:

• No significant effect of the reinforcement schedule (continuous vs. intermittent) on the rate of disembodiment was found.
• The study did not find evidence that intermittent feedback strengthens the body representation against disembodiment.

Conclusions:

• Maintaining an embodied entity in the body schema requires continuous updating through correlated perceptual and motor signals.
• Intermittent visuo-motor mismatches do not confer resistance to disembodiment.
• Constant sensory-motor correlation is crucial for stable body representation.