title: New reflections on agency and body ownership: The moving rubber hand illusion in the mirror.
abstract: No previous study has simultaneously examined body ownership and agency in healthy subjects during mirror self-observation. We used a moving rubber hand illusion to examine how both body ownership and agency are affected by seeing (i) the body moving in a mirror, compared with (ii) directly viewing the moving hand, and (iii) seeing a visually identical hand rotated by 180°. We elicited ownership of the hand using direct visual feedback, finding this effect was further enhanced when looking at the hand in a mirror, whereas rotating the hand 180° abolished ownership. Agency was similarly elicited using direct visual feedback, and equally so in the mirror, but again reduced for the 180° hand. We conclude that the reflected body in a mirror is treated as 'special' in the mind, and distinct from other external objects. This enables bodies and actions viewed in a mirror to be directly related to the self.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Electronic address: p.jenkinson@herts.ac.uk.
authors: Paul M
authors: PM
authors: Jenkinson
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Preston
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Agency; Embodiment; Mirror; Ownership; Rubber hand illusion; Self