title: Experimental changes in bodily self-consciousness are tuned to the frequency sensitivity of proprioceptive fibres.
abstract: Several lines of evidence suggest an important implication of proprioceptive signals in bodily self-consciousness. By manipulating proprioceptive signals using muscle vibration, here, we investigated whether such effects depend on the vibration frequency by testing three different vibratory stimuli applied at the lower limbs (20, 40 and 80 Hz). We thus explored whether frequency-specific proprioceptive interference that has been reported in postural or motor tasks will also be found for measures of bodily self-consciousness. Self-identification (questionnaires) and visuotactile integration (asking participants to make tactile discriminations) were quantified during synchronous and asynchronous stroking conditions that are known to manipulate bodily self-consciousness. We found that even though muscle vibrations were applied at the same body location in all cases, 20 Hz vibrations did not alter the magnitude of self-identification and visuotactile integration, whereas 40 and 80 Hz vibrations did. These frequency-specific effects extend earlier vibration effects on motor and postural tasks to bodily self-consciousness. We suggest that the observed changes in bodily self-consciousness are due to altered proprioceptive signals from the lower limbs and that these changes depend on the tuning of Ia fibres to muscle vibration.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne-EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. estelle.palluel@epfl.ch
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palluel
authors.forename: Jane Elizabeth
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Aspell
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lavanchy
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blanke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult