title: The interaction between felt touch and tactile consequences of observed actions: an action-based somatosensory congruency paradigm.
abstract: Action observation leads to a representation of both the motor aspect of an observed action (motor simulation) and its somatosensory consequences (action-based somatosensory simulation) in the observer's brain. In the current electroencephalography-study, we investigated the neuronal interplay of action-based somatosensory simulation and felt touch. We presented index or middle finger tapping movements of a human or a wooden hand, while simultaneously presenting 'tap-like' tactile sensations to either the corresponding or non-corresponding fingertip of the participant. We focused on an early stage of somatosensory processing [P50, N100 and N140 sensory evoked potentials (SEPs)] and on a later stage of higher-order processing (P3-complex). The results revealed an interaction effect of animacy and congruency in the early P50 SEP and an animacy effect in the N100/N140 SEPs. In the P3-complex, we found an interaction effect indicating that the influence of congruency was larger in the human than in the wooden hand. We argue that the P3-complex may reflect higher-order self-other distinction by signaling simulated action-based touch that does not match own tactile information. As such, the action-based somatosensory congruency paradigm might help understand higher-order social processes from a somatosensory point of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology and eliane.deschrijver@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Eliane
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deschrijver
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri-Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wiersema
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology and.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brass
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059167:Mirror Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: P3; mirror neurons; motor simulation; self-other distinction.; sensory evoked potential (SEP); somatosensory simulation