• Front Hum Neurosci · Jan 2013

    Sensorimotor incongruence and body perception: an experimental investigation.

    • Jens Foell, Robin Bekrater-Bodmann, Candida S McCabe, and Herta Flor.
    • Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University , Mannheim , Germany ; Department of Psychology, Florida State Univers... more ity , Tallahassee, FL , USA. less
    • Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Jan 1;7:310.

    ObjectivesSeveral studies have shown that mirrored arm or leg movements can induce altered body sensations. This includes the alleviation of chronic pain using congruent mirror feedback and the induction of abnormal sensation in healthy participants using incongruent mirror feedback. Prior research has identified neuronal and conceptual mechanisms of these phenomena. With the rising application of behavior-based methods for pain relief, a structured investigation of these reported effects seems necessary.MethodsWe investigated a mirror setup that included congruent and incongruent hand and arm movements in 113 healthy participants and assessed the occurrence and intensity of unusual physical experiences such as pain, the sensation of missing or additional limbs, or changes in weight or temperature. A wooden surface instead of a mirror condition served as control.ResultsAs reported earlier, mirrored movements led to a variety of subjective reactions in both the congruent and incongruent movement condition, with the sensation of possessing a third limb being significantly more intense and frequent in the incongruent mirror condition. Reports of illusory pain were not more frequent during mirrored than during non-mirrored movements.ConclusionThese results suggest that, while all mirrored hand movements induce abnormal body perceptions, the experience of an extra limb is most pronounced in the incongruent mirror movement condition. The frequent sensation of having a third arm may be related to brain processes designed to integrate input from several senses in a meaningful manner. Painful sensations are not more frequent or intense when a mirror is present.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.