The self-generated full body illusion is accompanied by impaired detection of somatosensory stimuli.

ABSTRACT

Research has found that body illusions may be accompanied by consequences for the real body whereby various somatosensory and homeostatic bodily functions may be impaired. These findings stem from research where an experimenter induced the body illusions. In line with advances in the domains of videogames and virtual reality where the real body is used as a controller we investigate if these consequences also accompany self-generated body illusions. In two preregistered experiments we made use of a head-mounted display set-up to induce the full body illusion (FBI) whereby touch is felt to originate from a 3PP body, and examined effects in the simple detection of supra-threshold vibrotactile stimuli presented to the participants' back and head. Results of both experiments indicate that it is possible to induce a FBI through self-stroking of the neck and that the FBI is accompanied by reduced accuracy and delayed reaction times in detection of somatosensory stimuli. In an additional preregistered control experiment the alternative explanation that a difference in motion presented in the conditions was responsible for these findings was ruled out. Our findings corroborate previous studies that have found body illusions to be accompanied by bodily consequences and further extend these findings to the domain of self-induced body illusions. These results are relevant for video games and VR setups that are geared towards virtual embodiment as they advance our understanding of the conditions and mechanisms in which bodily consequences may express themselves.