Multisensory brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness

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Abstract
A powerful approach to study self-consciousness has been to target brain mechanisms that process bodily signals (bodily self-consciousness). Bodily self-consciousness depends on three factors: self-identification with the body, self-location and the first-person perspective. Visuotactile and visuovestibular conflicts that induce changes in bodily self-consciousness have been tested using video, virtual reality and robotic devices. Experimental changes in illusory self-identification with a fake or virtual body are associated with changes in touch and pain perception, as well as physiological changes. Activity in the bilateral premotor cortex and posterior parietal cortex that is probably due to the activation of multisensory neurons integrating visual and somatosensory signals has been associated with self-identification. Neurological data in patients with heautoscopy reveal that damage to the left temporoparietal cortex leads to abnormal self-identification and self-location. Activity in the temporoparietal cortex and posterior parietal cortex that is probably due to the activation of multisensory neurons integrating vestibular, visual and tactile signals has been associated with self-location and the first-person perspective. Neurological data in patients with out-of-body experiences reveal that damage to the right temporoparietal cortex (posterior superior temporal gyrus) leads to abnormal self-location and first-person perspective. The interaction of these multisensory signals with other bodily signals, especially those related to interoceptive signals, and their respective importance for bodily self-consciousness and consciousness in general should be targeted by future research. Future neuro-rehabilitation procedures for amputees, stroke patients and patients with spinal cord injury are likely to benefit from the described automatized multisensory stimulations between augmented artificial bodies and residual own-body signals.