Brain Regions Associated to a Kinesthetic Illusion Evoked by Watching a Video of One's Own Moving Hand

Abstract

It is well known that kinesthetic illusions can be induced by stimulation of several sensory systems (proprioception, touch, vision…). In this study we investigated the cerebral network underlying a kinesthetic illusion induced by visual stimulation by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans. Participants were instructed to keep their hand still while watching the video of their own moving hand (Self Hand) or that of someone else's moving hand (Other Hand). In the Self Hand condition they experienced an illusory sensation that their hand was moving whereas the Other Hand condition did not induce any kinesthetic illusion. The contrast between the Self Hand and Other Hand conditions showed significant activation in the left dorsal and ventral premotor cortices, in the left Superior and Inferior Parietal lobules, at the right Occipito-Temporal junction as well as in bilateral Insula and Putamen. Most strikingly, there was no activation in the primary motor and somatosensory cortices, whilst previous studies have reported significant activation in these regions for vibration-induced kinesthetic illusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study that indicates that humans can experience kinesthetic perception without activation in the primary motor and somatosensory areas. We conclude that under some conditions watching a video of one's own moving hand could lead to activation of a network that is usually involved in processing copies of efference, thus leading to the illusory perception that the real hand is indeed moving.

A Case Series Clinical Trial of a Novel Approach Using Augmented Reality That Inspires Self-body Cognition in Patients With Stroke: Effects on Motor Function and Resting-State Brain Functional Connectivity

“…Specifically, the question on body ownership was: ''I felt the hand in the screen like own hand as if it was part of my own body during watching the movie''; this was based on a previous study on rubber hand illusion (Botvinick, 2004). The question on kinesthetic sensation was: ''I had a feeling that my hand is actually moving during watching the movie'' (Kaneko et al, 2015). Patients selected a level to agree/disagree from the following 7-point Likert scale for each question, as follows: −3, strongly disagree; −2, disagree; −1, somewhat disagree; 0, neither agree nor disagree; 1, somewhat agree; 2, agree; 3, strongly agree.…”

“…Therefore, KINVIS therapy indicates a combination of KINVIS with neuromuscular electrical stimulation. This system can be viewed as an intervention of virtual reality (augmented reality) using embodied-visual feedback, which can induce embodied cognitive change in self-body and physiological effects on motor-associated areas in the brain (Kaneko et al, 2007(Kaneko et al, , 2015(Kaneko et al, , 2016aAoyama et al, 2012). In other words, this may represent a cognitive stimulation to the embodied brain system for body ownership, a sense of agency, and kinesthetic perception.…”

“…In other words, this may represent a cognitive stimulation to the embodied brain system for body ownership, a sense of agency, and kinesthetic perception. A specific brain network is activated during KINVIS (Kaneko et al, 2015). The first report of the physiological effects of embodied-visual feed-back indicated an enhancement of M1 excitability (Kaneko et al, 2007), which is sustained after KINVIS therapy (Kaneko et al, 2016a).…”

Kinaesthetic illusion shapes the cortical plasticity evoked by action observation

“…Studies focusing on proprioception reported that muscle tendon vibration at a frequency ranging between 80 and 100 Hz elicited a vivid illusory sensation of movement corresponding to a lengthening of the vibrated muscle (Goodwin et al 1972). This illusory sensation is mediated by an ensemble of sensorimotor and associative cortical and subcortical regions that partially overlaps the cortical network involved in motor planning and execution (Naito et al 1999(Naito et al , 2002(Naito et al , 2007Romaiguère et al 2003;Kito et al 2006;Kaneko et al 2015;Balconi et al 2018). Further, it has been recently shown that associative parietal areas play an important role in the modulation of the vividness of the illusory experience and the electrophysiological activity in these areas can describe the individual propensity to perceive movement illusion (Balconi et al 2018).…”

Multisensory stimulation modulates perceptual and post perceptual face representations: Evidence from event‐related potentials

“…Only participants who reported an enfacement illusion, by recording an overall higher enfacement score after synchronous than asynchronous stimulation, were included in the analysis ( N = 18). Note that a similar approach has been applied previously in body ownership illusion studies involving hands (e.g., Kaneko et al., ; Schaefer, Konczak, Heinze, & Rotte, ) and faces (e.g., Apps et al., ). Observers reported a mean score of 3.08 ( SD = 1.25) to the statement “I felt I was looking at my own face” after synchronous stimulation and a lower mean, of 1.72 ( SD = 0.84), after asynchronous stimulation, t (17) = 7.34, p < 0.001.…”