Rebecca Boehme

2 papers in the library · 19 citations · publishing 2024-2026

Papers

Ketamine reduces the neural distinction between self- and other-produced affective touch: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology October 1, 2024 Reinoud Kaldewaij, Paula C Salamone, Adam Enmalm et al. 19 citations

Ketamine, a drug that temporarily disrupts the sense of self, reduces the brain's ability to distinguish between one's own touch and touch from another person. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, 30 healthy adults received intravenous ketamine or placebo while undergoing functional MRI. Ketamine weakened neural activity in the right temporoparietal cortex, a region involved in touch perception and social cognition, especially when participants were touched by someone else. This reduction correlated with decreased interoceptive awareness. Ketamine also increased connectivity between the temporoparietal cortex and somatosensory cortex and insula during other-touch, which correlated with the strength of dissociation. The findings suggest ketamine disrupts self-other-differentiation by altering top-down signaling, making predictable self-generated and unpredictable other-generated touch more similar.

DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01906-2 Full text Neuroscience Self-perception Psychopharmacology Sensory-processing +1

Social touch is associated with disrupted bodily self-concept in people with depersonalization symptoms.

Acta Psychologica June 20, 2026 Paula Celeste Salamone, Nadia Alejandra Dowzuk, Martina Nayla Gallo et al.

People who experience depersonalization symptoms—feelings of detachment from oneself—report less comfort with social touch and seek it less, which in turn is linked to a less clear sense of self. In a survey of 273 non-clinical Argentinian adults, touch acceptance increased with relational closeness, and both comfort with social touch and acceptance of touch from intimate partners were positively associated with self-concept clarity. Depersonalization symptoms were also associated with higher anxiety, depression, and negative affect, and lower positive affect and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that social touch may be relevant for interventions targeting depersonalization.

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107307 Full text Bodily self-awareness Depersonalization symptoms Embodied self Self-concept +2