title: Transient Modulations of Neural Responses to Heartbeats Covary with Bodily Self-Consciousness.
abstract: Recent research has investigated self-consciousness associated with the multisensory processing of bodily signals (e.g., somatosensory, visual, vestibular signals), a notion referred to as bodily self-consciousness, and these studies have shown that the manipulation of bodily inputs induces changes in bodily self-consciousness such as self-identification. Another line of research has highlighted the importance of signals from the inside of the body (e.g., visceral signals) and proposed that neural representations of internal bodily signals underlie self-consciousness, which to date has been based on philosophical inquiry, clinical case studies, and behavioral studies. Here, we investigated the relationship of bodily self-consciousness with the neural processing of internal bodily signals. By combining electrical neuroimaging, analysis of peripheral physiological signals, and virtual reality technology in humans, we show that transient modulations of neural responses to heartbeats in the posterior cingulate cortex covary with changes in bodily self-consciousness induced by the full-body illusion. Additional analyses excluded that measured basic cardiorespiratory parameters or interoceptive sensitivity traits could account for this finding. These neurophysiological data link experimentally the cortical mapping of the internal body to self-consciousness.
  
  
  
  What are the brain mechanisms of self-consciousness? Prominent views propose that the neural processing associated with signals from the internal organs (such as the heart and the lung) plays a critical role in self-consciousness. Although this hypothesis dates back to influential views in philosophy and psychology (e.g., William James), definitive experimental evidence supporting this idea is lacking despite its recent impact in neuroscience. In the present study, we show that posterior cingulate activities responding to heartbeat signals covary with changes in participants' conscious self-identification with a body that were manipulated experimentally using virtual reality technology. Our finding provides important neural evidence about the long-standing proposal that self-consciousness is linked to the cortical processing of internal bodily signals.
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and.
authors: Hyeong-Dong
authors: 0000-0001-9508-7353
authors: HD
authors: Park
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and.
authors: Fosco
authors: F
authors: Bernasconi
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and.
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Bello-Ruiz
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Pfeiffer
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and.
authors: Roy
authors: R
authors: Salomon
authors: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, and Department of Neurology, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland olaf.blanke@epfl.ch.
authors: Olaf
authors: O
authors: Blanke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: bodily self-consciousness; full-body illusion; heartbeat evoked potentials