Me or not me--an optimal integration of agency cues?
Recent work has demonstrated that the sense of agency is not only determined by efference-copy-based internal predictions and internal comparator mechanisms, but by a large variety of different internal and external cues. The study by Moore and colleagues [Moore, J. W., Wegner, D. M., & Haggard, P. (2009). Modulating the sense of agency with external cues. Conscious and Cognition] aimed to provide further evidence for this view by demonstrating that external agency cues might outweigh or even substitute efferent signals to install a basic registration of self-agency. Although the study contains some critical points that, so we argue, are central to a proper interpretation of the data, it hints at a new perspective on agency: optimal cue integration seems to be the key to a robust sense of agency. We here argue that this framework could allow integrating the findings of Moore and colleagues and other recent agency studies into a comprehensive picture of the sense of agency and its pathological disruptions.
Synofzik
Matthis
M
Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Germany. matthis.synofzik@uni-tuebingen.de
Vosgerau
Gottfried
G
Lindner
Axel
A
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001364:Awareness; D003243:Consciousness; D003463:Cues; D004532:Ego; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007600:Judgment; D007699:Kinesthesis; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013998:Time Perception; D014836:Volition