The role of affective touch in whole-body embodiment remains equivocal

Mark Carey; Laura Crucianelli; Catherine Preston; Aikaterini Fotopoulou

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2020.103059

The role of affective touch in whole-body embodiment remains equivocal

Mark Carey, Laura Crucianelli, Catherine Preston, Aikaterini Fotopoulou

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Previous studies have highlighted that affective touch delivered at slow velocities (1-10 cm/s) enhances body-part embodiment during multisensory illusions, yet its role towards whole-body embodiment is less established. Across two experiments, we investigated the role of affective touch towards subjective embodiment of a whole mannequin body within the full body illusion, amongst healthy females. Participants perceived affective touch to be more pleasant than non-affective touch, but this did not enhance subjective embodiment within the illusion and no interaction between synchrony (Experiment 1), or congruency (Experiment 2), and the velocity of touch was observed. Finally, the perceived pleasantness of touch was not modulated by subthreshold eating disorder psychopathology, as measured by means of a self-report questionnaire. Therefore, the present findings suggest that enhancement of embodiment due to affective touch may be body-part specific, and not generalise to greater ownership towards a whole body.

Original language	English
Article number	103059
Number of pages	15
Journal	Consciousness and cognition
Volume	87
Early online date	7 Dec 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2020.103059
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2021

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abstract = "Previous studies have highlighted that affective touch delivered at slow velocities (1-10 cm/s) enhances body-part embodiment during multisensory illusions, yet its role towards whole-body embodiment is less established. Across two experiments, we investigated the role of affective touch towards subjective embodiment of a whole mannequin body within the full body illusion, amongst healthy females. Participants perceived affective touch to be more pleasant than non-affective touch, but this did not enhance subjective embodiment within the illusion and no interaction between synchrony (Experiment 1), or congruency (Experiment 2), and the velocity of touch was observed. Finally, the perceived pleasantness of touch was not modulated by subthreshold eating disorder psychopathology, as measured by means of a self-report questionnaire. Therefore, the present findings suggest that enhancement of embodiment due to affective touch may be body-part specific, and not generalise to greater ownership towards a whole body.",

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