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  4. Unconscious integration of multisensory bodily inputs in the peripersonal space shapes bodily self-consciousness
 
research article

Unconscious integration of multisensory bodily inputs in the peripersonal space shapes bodily self-consciousness

Salomon, Roy  
•
Noel, Jean-Paul
•
Łukowska, Marta
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2017
Cognition

Recent studies have highlighted the role of multisensory integration as a key mechanism of self-consciousness. In particular, integration of bodily signals within the peripersonal space (PPS) underlies the experience of the self in a body we own (self-identification) and that is experienced as occupying a specific location in space (self-location), two main components of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Experiments investigating the effects of multisensory integration on BSC have typically employed supra-threshold sensory stimuli, neglecting the role of unconscious sensory signals in BSC, as tested in other consciousness research. Here, we used psychophysical techniques to test whether multisensory integration of bodily stimuli underlying BSC also occurs for multisensory inputs presented below the threshold of conscious perception. Our results indicate that visual stimuli rendered invisible through continuous flash suppression boost processing of tactile stimuli on the body (Exp. 1), and enhance the perception of near-threshold tactile stimuli (Exp. 2), only once they entered PPS. We then employed unconscious multisensory stimulation to manipulate BSC. Participants were presented with tactile stimulation on their body and with visual stimuli on a virtual body, seen at a distance, which were either visible or rendered invisible. We found that participants reported higher self-identification with the virtual body in the synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation (as compared to asynchronous stimulation; Exp. 3), and shifted their self-location toward the virtual body (Exp.4), even if stimuli were fully invisible. Our results indicate that multisensory inputs, even outside of awareness, are integrated and affect the phenomenological content of self-consciousness, grounding BSC firmly in the field of psychophysical consciousness studies.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.028
Web of Science ID

WOS:000405160500017

Author(s)
Salomon, Roy  
Noel, Jean-Paul
Łukowska, Marta
Faivre, Nathan
Metzinger, Thomas
Serino, Andrea  
Blanke, Olaf  
Date Issued

2017

Publisher

Elsevier

Published in
Cognition
Volume

166

Start page

174

End page

183

Subjects

Consciousness

•

Multisensory integration

•

Peripersonal space

•

Bodily self-consciousness

•

Continuous flash suppression

•

Visual awareness

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CNP  
LNCO  
Available on Infoscience
June 20, 2017
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/138515
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