title: Self-face hallucination evoked by electrical stimulation of the human brain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Self-face hallucination (autoscopic hallucination or AH) has been reported in patients with widespread brain damage or retrospectively after epileptic seizures. The neural basis and the self-processing operations underlying AH remain unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the results of intracerebral electrical stimulations of the right medial occipitoparietal cortex (right precuneus and occipitoparietal sulcus) in 2 patients with epilepsy who underwent a stereo-EEG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immediately after the onset of the stimulation, the 2 patients reported seeing their current own face, facing themselves, in their left visual field.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that the medial occipitoparietal junction has a key role in generating AH. This region has been shown to have a central role in various self-processing operations and especially in self-face recognition. Our observations further reveal that this region is involved in a visual representation of our own face, which is generated during the pathologic phenomenon of AH. This visual representation of our own face may be useful for self-face recognition and social cognition processes involving judgment of self-facial resemblance to others.
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique. j.jonas@chu-nancy.fr.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jonas
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maillard
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Solène
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frismand
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colnat-Coulbois
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vespignani
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossion
authors.affiliation: From Service de Neurologie (J.J., L.M., S.F., H.V., J.-P.V.) and Service de Neurochirurgie (S.C.-C.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy; CRAN, UMR 7039 (J.J., L.M., H.V., J.-P.V.), Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Nancy; Faculté de Médecine de Nancy (J.J., L.M., S.C.-C., H.V.), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; and Université Catholique de Louvain (J.J., B.R.), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vignal
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D058542:Implantable Neurostimulators; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult