Where is my Mind? Separating the Self from the Body through Perspective Taking
Debbie Margaretha Louisa De Boer, Patrick Johnston, Graham Kerr, Marcus Meinzer, Axel Cleeremans
PsyArXiv August 19, 2020 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/8y9eb (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study combining a Full-body Illusion paradigm with HD-tDCS brain stimulation |
|---|---|
| Interventions | sham HD-tDCS Full-body Illusion paradigm |
| Key findings | The authors report a causal association between right Angular Gyrus activation and altered self-location. Anodal versus sham HD-tDCS produced a more profound out-of-body shift with reduced sense of agency and weakened discrimination between self and other perspectives. They conclude that self-identification is mediated by inferring self-location and can be decoupled from the bodily self. |
Abstract
Recent theories suggest that self-consciousness, in its most elementary form, is separate from the own body. Patients with psychosis frequently misattribute their thoughts and actions to external sources; and in certain out-of-body experiences, lucid states, and dreams body-ownership is absent but self-identification is preserved. We hypothesized that self-identification depends on inferring self-location at the right Angular Gyrus (perspective-taking). This process relates to the discrimination of self-produced signals (endogenous attention) from environmental stimulation (exogenous attention). We combined a Full-body Illusion paradigm with brain stimulation (HD-tDCS) and found a clear causal association between right Angular Gyrus activation and alterations in self-location (perspective-taking). Anodal versus sham HD-tDCS resulted in: a more profound out-of-body shift (with reduced sense-of-agency); and a weakened ability to discriminate self from other perspectives. We conclude that self-identification is mediated in the brain by inferring self-location (perspective-taking). Self-identification can be decoupled from the bodily self, explaining phenomena associated with disembodiment.