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Altered Sense of Body Ownership and Agency in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Its Dissociative Subtype: A Rubber Hand Illusion Study

Daniela Rabellino, Dalila Burin, Sherain Harricharan, Chantelle Lloyd, Paul Frewen, Margaret C Mckinnon, Ruth A. Lanius

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience May 1, 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00163 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Case-control experimental study Peer reviewed
Sample size 17
Population Adults with PTSD (n=4), PTSD with dissociative subtype (n=6), and healthy controls (n=7)
Measures proprioceptive drift, self-report questionnaires, sense of agency
Topics PTSD
Citations 55
Key findings The Rubber Hand Illusion was weaker in the PTSD group than in controls after synchronous stimulation, on both proprioceptive drift and subjective ratings, while the PTSD+DS group showed highly variable responses ranging from very strong to very weak. Sense of agency trended toward a negative correlation with the subjectively perceived illusion in the PTSD and PTSD+DS groups. The authors propose that PTSD may involve a rigid body representation serving as avoidance, whereas PTSD+DS may reflect either increased vulnerability to embodiment manipulation or dominant top-down body representation.

Abstract

Traumatic experiences have been linked to the development of altered states of consciousness affecting bodily perception, including alterations in body ownership and sense of agency, the conscious experience of the body as one’s own and under voluntary control. Severe psychological trauma and prolonged distress may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Together, symptoms of derealization and related specifically to the sense of body ownership and agency, of depersonalization (where parts of the body or the entire body itself is perceived as detached and out of control), constitute the dissociative subtype (PTSD+DS). In this study, we explored the Rubber Hand Illusion, an experimental paradigm utilized to manipulate sense of body ownership in PTSD (n=4) and PTSD+DS (n=6) as compared to healthy controls (n=7). Perceived finger location and self-report questionnaires were used as behavioral and subjective measures of the illusion, respectively. In addition, the correlation between the illusion’s effect and sense of agency as a continuous feeling of controlling one’s own body movements was explored. Here, a lower illusion effect was observed in the PTSD as compared to the control group after synchronous stimulation for both the proprioceptive drift and subjectively perceived illusion. Moreover, by both proprioceptive drift and by subjective ratings, the PTSD+DS group showed a response characterized by high variance, ranging from a very strong to a very weak effect of the illusion. Finally, sense of agency showed a trend towards a negative correlation with the strength of the illusion as subjectively perceived by participants with PTSD and PTSD+DS. These findings suggest individuals with PTSD may, at times, maintain a rigid representation of the body as an avoidance strategy, with top-down cognitive processes weakening the impact of manipulation of body ownership. By contrast, the response elicited in PTSD+DS appeared to be driven by either an increased vulnerability to manipulation of embodiment or a dominant top-down cognitive representation of the body, with disruption of multisensory integration processes in both cases. Taken together, these findings further our understanding of bodily consciousness in PTSD and its dissociative subtype and highlight the supportive role played by sense of agency for the maintenance of body ownership.

Comparable studies

Other experimental studies on PTSD, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
A PILOT STUDY OF GROUP MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY (MBCT) FOR COMBAT VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) Veterans with chronic combat posttraumatic stress disorder seeking treatment at a VA... 2013 Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual comparison group n = 37
Resting‐state functional connectivity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in post‐traumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype Adults with PTSD (n = 70), its dissociative subtype (n = 41), and healthy controls (n =... 2017 Cross-sectional resting-state fMRI study n = 161
Sensory overload and imbalance: Resting-state vestibular connectivity in PTSD and its dissociative subtype. Adults with PTSD, PTSD dissociative subtype, and healthy controls 2017 Cross-sectional, seed-based resting-state fMRI study n = 141
Superior colliculus resting state networks in post‐traumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype Adults with PTSD (n = 67), its dissociative subtype (n = 41), and healthy controls (n =... 2017 Observational cross-sectional resting-state fMRI study n = 158
Feasibility and effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for improving resilience, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and posttraumatic growth among military medical college students. Medical students at a military college 2024 Quasi-experimental with control group n = 372

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PTSD Altered states of consciousness Ego dissolution Philosophy of mind