The neural and multisensory bases of hand self-recognition: Preliminary investigations
Poster Presentation

Nicholas Holmes
U534, Espace et Action, Bron, Lyon

Alessandro Farne
U534, Espace et Action, Bron, Lyon

Patrice Revol
U534, Espace et Action, Bron, Lyon

Yves Rossetti
U534, Espace et Action, Bron, Lyon

     Abstract ID Number: 118
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 17, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/20/2006 10:00 AM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
Can you recognise your own hands? The English phrase ‘I know it like the back of my hand’ suggests one can, but very little empirical work has addressed the issue directly. Recent results in studies of bodily self-recognition suggest that the congruence between vision, proprioception, and action is crucial for bodily self-recognition. But these studies typically involved the self-recognition of movements or actions, not of body parts per se. We therefore presented static digital images of healthy participants’ own hands, and asked them to make, in different sessions, both left-right, and self-other speeded judgements concerning the hand images. In the first experiment, we systematically manipulated the duration of presentation, and found that participants required around 50ms of exposure to the hand images to make efficient self-other and left-right judgements. Subsequent and ongoing experiments manipulated the congruence between the proprioceptive (posture) and visual (hand image) information to assess the multisensory bases of hand self-recognition. Parallel and ongoing studies are addressing the causes and effects of hand self-recognition both in simple reaching movements in healthy participants, and in neuropsychological patients using a number of experimental approaches.