Presence is just an illusion: using fMRI to locate the brain area responsible to the meaning given to places.
Researchers have suggested different models to describe the feeling of presence. Most of them imply that presence is some kind of alternate state. Research conducted in our research team lead us to consider presence simply like a very powerful perceptual illusion, with the addition of challenging the meaning given to the place where the user actually is (i.e., being "there"). The aim of this study is to investigate the neural correlates of the illusion of presence in VR. Five right-handed adults were scanned in the fMRI and were immersed in two conditions: high and low presence, where the exact same stimulus was presented to participants during each condition but the context (narrative) provided differed significantly. Results show a clear, specific and statistically significant involvement of the parahippocampal area, the brain responsible for giving contextual meaning of places.
Bouchard
Stéphane
S
Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Talbot
Jeanne
J
Ledoux
André-Anne
AA
Phillips
Jennifer
J
Cantamesse
Matteo
M
Robillard
Geneviève
G
D001921:Brain; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*