1
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Bliss L, Vasas V, Freeland L, Roach R, Ferrè ER, Versace E. A spontaneous gravity prior: newborn chicks prefer stimuli that move against gravity. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220502. [PMID: 36750178 PMCID: PMC9904944 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
At the beginning of life, inexperienced animals use evolutionary-given preferences (predispositions) to decide what stimuli to attend and approach. Stimuli that contain cues of animacy, such as face-like stimuli, biological motion and changes in speed, are particularly attractive across vertebrate taxa. A strong cue of animacy is upward movement against terrestrial gravity, because only animate objects consistently move upward. To test whether upward movement is spontaneously considered attractive already at birth, we tested the early preferences of dark-hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) for upward- versus downward-moving visual stimuli. We found that, without any previous visual experience, chicks consistently exhibited a preference to approach stimuli that move upward, against gravity. A control experiment showed that these preferences are not driven by avoidance of downward stimuli. These results show that newborn animals have a gravity prior that attracts them toward upward movement. Movement against gravity can be used as a cue of animacy to orient early approach responses in the absence of previous visual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larry Bliss
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Vera Vasas
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Laura Freeland
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Robyn Roach
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Elisabetta Versace
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK,Alan Turing Institute, London NW1 2DB, UK
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2
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Arshad I, Gallagher M, Ferrè ER. Visuo-vestibular conflicts within the roll plane modulate multisensory verticality perception. Neurosci Lett 2023; 792:136963. [PMID: 36375625 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The integration of visuo-vestibular information is crucial when interacting with the external environment. Under normal circumstances, vision and vestibular signals provide corroborating information, for example regarding the direction and speed of self-motion. However, conflicts in visuo-vestibular signalling, such as optic flow presented to a stationary observer, can change subsequent processing in either modality. While previous studies have demonstrated the impact of sensory conflict on unisensory visual or vestibular percepts, here we investigated whether visuo-vestibular conflicts impact sensitivity to multisensory percepts, specifically verticality. Participants were exposed to a visuo-vestibular conflicting or non-conflicting motion adaptor before completing a Vertical Detection Task. Sensitivity to vertical stimuli was reduced following visuo-vestibular conflict. No significant differences in criterion were found. Our findings suggest that visuo-vestibular conflicts not only modulate processing in unimodal channels, but also broader multisensory percepts, which may have implications for higher-level processing dependent on the integration of visual and vestibular signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Arshad
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, United Kingdom
| | - M Gallagher
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of Kent, United Kingdom.
| | - E R Ferrè
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, United Kingdom
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3
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Gallagher M, Romano F, Bockisch CJ, Ferrè ER, Bertolini G. Quantifying virtual self-motion sensations induced by galvanic vestibular stimulation. J Vestib Res 2023; 33:21-30. [PMID: 36591665 DOI: 10.3233/ves-220031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The vestibular system provides a comprehensive estimate of self-motion in 3D space. Widely used to artificially stimulate the vestibular system, binaural-bipolar square-wave Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) elicits a virtual sensation of roll rotation. Postural responses to GVS have been clearly delineated, however quantifying the perceived virtual rotation vector has not been fully realised. OBJECTIVE We aimed to quantify the perceived virtual roll rotation vector elicited by GVS using a psychophysical approach on a 3D turntable. METHODS Participants were placed supine on the 3D turntable and rotated around the naso-occipital axis while supine and received square-wave binaural-bipolar GVS or sham stimulation. GVS amplitudes and intensities were systematically manipulated. The turntable motion profile consisted of a velocity step of 20°/s2 until the trial velocity between 0-20°/s was reached, followed by a 1°/s ramp until the end of the trial. In a psychophysical adaptive staircase procedure, we systematically varied the roll velocity to identify the exact velocity that cancelled the perceived roll sensation induced by GVS. RESULTS Participants perceived a virtual roll rotation towards the cathode of approximately 2°/s velocity for 1 mA GVS and 6°/s velocity for 2.5 mA GVS. The observed values were stable across repetitions. CONCLUSIONS Our results quantify for the first time the perceived virtual roll rotations induced by binaural-bipolar square-wave GVS. Importantly, estimates were based on perceptual judgements, in the absence of motor or postural responses and in a head orientation where the GVS-induced roll sensation did not interact with the perceived direction of gravity. This is an important step towards applications of GVS in different settings, including sensory substitution or Virtual Reality.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gallagher
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.,School of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | - F Romano
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - C J Bockisch
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Clinical Neuroscience Center, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - E R Ferrè
- School of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.,Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK
| | - G Bertolini
- Institute of Optometry, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Olten, Switzerland
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4
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Abstract
As humanity prepares for deep space exploration, understanding the impact of spaceflight on bodily physiology is critical. While the effects of non-terrestrial gravity on the body are well established, little is known about its impact on human behaviour and cognition. Astronauts often describe dramatic alterations in sensorimotor functioning, including orientation, postural control and balance. Changes in cognitive functioning as well as in socio-affective processing have also been observed. Here we have reviewed the key literature and explored the impact of non-terrestrial gravity across three key functional domains: sensorimotor, cognition, and socio-affective processing. We have proposed a neuroanatomical model to account for the effects of non-terrestrial gravity in these domains. Understanding the impact of non-terrestrial gravity on human behaviour has never been more timely and it will help mitigate against risks in both commercial and non-commercial spaceflight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iqra Arshad
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK 3162
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK 3162
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5
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Pavlidou A, Lange J, Ferrè ER. Human movements do not look the same in a tilted world: Gravitational constraints influence the perception of biological motion. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:800-805. [PMID: 34978119 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We investigated whether gravitational constraints influence the interaction of visual, proprioceptive and vestibular cues for Biological Motion Perception (BMP). Participants were asked to distinguish between plausible and random point-light movements, while passively placed in either an upright or a tilted body orientation. Manipulating the body orientation with respect to gravity leads to different gravitational signals transmitted by the visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular systems. Participants were overall faster in distinguishing plausible point-light movements than random movements. Critically, response times for biologically plausible point-light movements - but not for random movements - were significantly prolonged in the tilted body orientation. Our results suggest that BMP depends not only on the spatial-temporal cues embedded in point-light movements but also rely on the congruency between current gravitational signals detected by the sensory systems and our previous knowledge of terrestrial gravity. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: As humankind is preparing for a new space age, understanding how gravity influences behaviour and cognition has never been more pressing. All living organisms have evolved to survive in a terrestrial gravitational field. Although we cannot consciously feel gravity, it has an impact in our life: it affects how we move and interact with the external environment. The sensory signals from the vestibular system are continuously combined with visual and proprioceptive cues to help us in maintaining a stable representation of the world. Here we placed participants in a tilted body orientation and were able to determine that a conflict between prior gravitational knowledge and what was actively sensed about gravity affected human Biological Movement Perception. Humans suffer changes in perception under non-terrestrial gravity conditions that may potentially compromise performance during space exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Pavlidou
- Department of Human Perception, Cognition, and Action, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany.,Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Joachim Lange
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK.,Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK
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6
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Abstract
Knowing where our limbs are in space is crucial for a successful interaction with the external world. Joint position sense (JPS) relies on both cues from muscle spindles and joint mechanoreceptors, as well as the effort required to move. However, JPS may also rely on the perceived external force on the limb, such as the gravitational field. It is well known that the internal model of gravity plays a large role in perception and behaviour. Thus, we have explored whether direct vestibular-gravitational cues could influence JPS. Participants passively estimated the position of their hand while they were upright and therefore aligned with terrestrial gravity, or pitch-tilted 45° backwards from gravity. Overall participants overestimated the position of their hand in both upright and tilted postures; however, the proprioceptive bias was significantly reduced when participants were tilted. Our findings therefore suggest that the internal model of gravity may influence and update JPS in order to allow the organism to interact with the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gallagher
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK.,School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
| | - Breanne Kearney
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
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7
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Gallagher M, Choi R, Ferrè ER. Multisensory Interactions in Virtual Reality: Optic Flow Reduces Vestibular Sensitivity, but Only for Congruent Planes of Motion. Multisens Res 2020; 33:625-644. [PMID: 31972542 DOI: 10.1163/22134808-20201487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
During exposure to Virtual Reality (VR) a sensory conflict may be present, whereby the visual system signals that the user is moving in a certain direction with a certain acceleration, while the vestibular system signals that the user is stationary. In order to reduce this conflict, the brain may down-weight vestibular signals, which may in turn affect vestibular contributions to self-motion perception. Here we investigated whether vestibular perceptual sensitivity is affected by VR exposure. Participants' ability to detect artificial vestibular inputs was measured during optic flow or random motion stimuli on a VR head-mounted display. Sensitivity to vestibular signals was significantly reduced when optic flow stimuli were presented, but importantly this was only the case when both visual and vestibular cues conveyed information on the same plane of self-motion. Our results suggest that the brain dynamically adjusts the weight given to incoming sensory cues for self-motion in VR; however this is dependent on the congruency of visual and vestibular cues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Reno Choi
- Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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8
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Abstract
Vestibular information has been traditionally considered as a specialized input for basic orienting behaviours, such as oculo-motor adjustments, postural control and gaze orientation. However, in the past two decades a widespread vestibular network in the human brain has been identified, that goes far beyond the low-level reflex circuits emphasized by earlier work. Because this vestibular cortical network is so widely distributed, it could, in principle, impact multiple neurocognitive functions in health and disease. This paper focuses on the relations between vestibular input, vestibular networks, and vestibular interventions by providing the authors' personal viewpoint on the state-of-the-art of vestibular cognitive neuropsychology, and its potential relevance for neurorehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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9
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Abstract
The weightlessness experienced by astronauts has fascinated scientists and the public. On Earth, body weight is given by Newton’s laws as mass times gravitational acceleration. That is, an object’s weight is determined by the pull of gravity on it. We hypothesised that perceived body weight is – like actual weight – dependent on the strength of gravity. If so, changes in the experienced strength of gravity should alter the experience of one’s own body weight. We asked participants to estimate the weight of two body parts, their hand or their head, both in normal terrestrial gravity (1 g) and during exposure to experimentally altered gravitational fields, 0 g and +1.8 g during parabolic flight and +1 g using a short arm human centrifuge. For both body parts, there was an increase in perceived weight during the experience of hypergravity, and a decrease during the experience of microgravity. Our results show that experimental alterations of gravity produce rapid changes in the perceived weight of specific individual body parts. Traditionally, research has focused on the social factors for weight perception, as in the putative role of mass media in eating disorders. Our results, in contrast, emphasize that the perception of body weight is highly malleable, and shaped by immediate sensory signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R Ferrè
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.
| | - T Frett
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Cologne, Germany
| | - P Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - M R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
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10
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Gallagher M, Dowsett R, Ferrè ER. Vection in virtual reality modulates vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 50:3557-3565. [PMID: 31233640 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2018] [Revised: 06/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The popularity of virtual reality (VR) has increased rapidly in recent years. While significant technological advancements are apparent, a troublesome problem with VR is that between 20% and 80% of users will experience unpleasant side effects such as nausea, disorientation, blurred vision and headaches-a malady known as Cybersickness. Cybersickness may be caused by a conflict between sensory signals for self-motion: while vision signals that the user is moving in a certain direction with certain acceleration, the vestibular organs provide no corroborating information. To resolve the sensory conflict, vestibular cues may be down-weighted leading to an alteration of how the brain interprets actual vestibular information. This may account for the frequently reported after-effects of VR exposure. Here, we investigated whether exposure to vection in VR modulates vestibular processing. We measured vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) during brief immersion in a vection-inducing VR environment presented via head-mounted display. We found changes in VEMP asymmetry ratio, with a substantial increase in VEMP amplitude recorded on the left sternocleidomastoid muscle following just one minute of exposure to vection in VR. Our results suggest that exposure to vection in VR modulates vestibular processing, which may explain common after-effects of VR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gallagher
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Ross Dowsett
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
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11
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Cataldo A, Ferrè ER, Haggard P. Thermonociceptive interaction: interchannel pain modulation occurs before intrachannel convergence of warmth. J Neurophysiol 2019; 121:1798-1808. [PMID: 30864857 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00341.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Nonnoxious warmth reduces both perceived pain intensity and the amplitude of EEG markers of pain. However, the spatial properties of thermonociceptive interaction, and the level of sensory processing at which it occurs, remain unclear. We investigated whether interchannel warmth-pain interactions occur before or after intrachannel spatial summation of warmth. Warm stimuli were applied to the fingers of the right hand. Their number and location were manipulated in different conditions. A concomitant noxious test pulse was delivered to the middle finger using a CO2 laser. We replicated the classical suppressive effect of warmth on both perceived pain intensity and EEG markers. Importantly, inhibition of pain was not affected by the location and the number of thermal stimuli, even though they increased the perceived intensity of warmth. Our results therefore suggest that the inhibitory effect of warmth on pain is not somatotopically organized. The results also rule out the possibility that warmth affects nociceptive processing after intrachannel warmth summation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We used spatial summation of warmth as a model to investigate thermonociceptive interactions. Painful CO2 laser pulses were delivered during different thermal conditions. We found that warmth inhibited pain regardless of its location. Crucially, spatial summation of multiple warm stimuli did not further inhibit pain. These findings suggest that warmth-pain interaction occurs independently of or after spatial summation of warmth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Cataldo
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London , London , United Kingdom.,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna , Cesena , Italy.,Institute of Philosophy, University of London , London , United Kingdom
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London , Surrey , United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London , London , United Kingdom.,Institute of Philosophy, University of London , London , United Kingdom
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12
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Cataldo A, Ferrè ER, di Pellegrino G, Haggard P. Why the whole is more than the sum of its parts: Salience-driven overestimation in aggregated tactile sensations. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:2509-2526. [PMID: 30971159 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819847131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Experimental psychology often studies perception analytically, reducing its focus to minimal sensory units, such as thresholds or just noticeable differences in a single stimulus. Here, in contrast, we examine a synthetic aspect: how multiple inputs to a sensory system are aggregated into an overall percept. Participants in three experiments judged the total stimulus intensity for simultaneous electrical shocks to two digits. We tested whether the integration of component somatosensory stimuli into a total percept occurs automatically, or rather depends on the ability to consciously perceive discrepancy among components (Experiment 1), whether the discrepancy among these components influences sensitivity or/and perceptual bias in judging totals (Experiment 2), and whether the salience of each individual component stimulus affects perception of total intensity (Experiment 3). Perceptual aggregation of two simultaneous component events occurred both when participants could perceptually discriminate the two intensities, and also when they could not. Further, the actual discrepancy between the stimuli modulated both participants' sensitivity and perceptual bias: increasing discrepancies produced a systematic and progressive overestimation of total intensity. The degree of this bias depended primarily on the salience of the stronger stimulus in the pair. Overall, our results suggest that important nonlinear mechanisms contribute to sensory aggregation. The mind aggregates component inputs into a coherent and synthetic perceptual experience in a salience-weighted fashion that is not based on simple summation of inputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Cataldo
- 1 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,2 Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Alma Mater Studiorum -University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.,3 Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- 2 Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Alma Mater Studiorum -University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Patrick Haggard
- 1 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,3 Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
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13
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Torok A, Gallagher M, Lasbareilles C, Ferrè ER. Getting ready for Mars: How the brain perceives new simulated gravitational environments. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:2342-2349. [PMID: 30852941 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819839962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
On Earth, we are continually exposed to gravity: sensory signals are constantly integrated to form an internal model of gravity. However, it is unclear whether this internal model is fixed to Earth's gravity or whether it can be applied to a new gravitational environment. Under terrestrial gravity, observers show a "gravitational bias" while judging the speed of falling versus rising objects, as they comply with the physical laws of gravity. We investigated whether this gravitational bias may be present when judging the speed of objects moving upwards or downwards in both virtual reality (VR)-simulated Earth gravity (9.81 m/s2) and Mars gravity (3.71 m/s2). Our results highlighted a gravitational bias in both Earth and Mars VR-simulated gravity: the speed of downwards movement was more precisely detected than the speed of upwards movement. Although the internal model of gravity has been built up under terrestrial gravity, it can quickly expand to novel non-terrestrial gravitational environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Gallagher
- 2 Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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14
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Ferrè ER, Iannetti GD, van Dijk JA, Haggard P. Ineffectiveness of tactile gating shows cortical basis of nociceptive signaling in the Thermal Grill Illusion. Sci Rep 2018; 8:6584. [PMID: 29700407 PMCID: PMC5919908 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-24635-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Painful burning sensations can be elicited by a spatially-alternating pattern of warm and cold stimuli applied on the skin, the so called "Thermal Grill Illusion" (TGI). Here we investigated whether the TGI percept originates spinally or centrally. Since the inhibition of nociceptive input by concomitant non-nociceptive somatosensory input has a strong spinal component, we reasoned that, if the afferent input underlying the TGI originates at spinal level, then the TGI should be inhibited by a concomitant non-nociceptive somatosensory input. Conversely, if TGI is the result of supraspinal processing, then no effect of touch on TGI would be expected. We elicited TGI sensations in a purely thermal condition without tactile input, and found no evidence that tactile input affected the TGI. These results provide further evidence against a spinal mechanism generating the afferent input producing the TGI, and indicate that the peculiar burning sensation of the TGI results from supraspinal interactions between thermoceptive and nociceptive systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, London, UK
| | - G D Iannetti
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK
| | - J A van Dijk
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - P Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
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15
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Cabolis K, Steinberg A, Ferrè ER. Somatosensory modulation of perceptual vestibular detection. Exp Brain Res 2018; 236:859-865. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5167-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/03/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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16
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Abstract
Verticality plays a fundamental role in the arts, portraying concepts such as power, grandeur, or even morality; however, it is unclear whether people have an aesthetic preference for vertical stimuli. The perception of verticality occurs by integrating vestibular-gravitational input with proprioceptive signals about body posture. Thus, these signals may influence the preference for verticality. Here, we show that people have a genuine aesthetic preference for stimuli aligned with the vertical, and this preference depends on the position of the body relative to the gravitational direction. Observers rated the attractiveness of lines that varied in inclination. Perfectly vertical lines were judged to be more attractive than those inclined clockwise or anticlockwise only when participants held an upright posture. Critically, this preference was not present when their body was tilted away from the gravitational vertical. Our results showed that gravitational signals make a contribution to the perception of attractiveness of environmental objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gallagher
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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17
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Abstract
In the past decade, there has been a rapid advance in Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Key to the user's VR experience are multimodal interactions involving all senses. The human brain must integrate real-time vision, hearing, vestibular and proprioceptive inputs to produce the compelling and captivating feeling of immersion in a VR environment. A serious problem with VR is that users may develop symptoms similar to motion sickness, a malady called cybersickness. At present the underlying cause of cybersickness is not yet fully understood. Cybersickness may be due to a discrepancy between the sensory signals which provide information about the body's orientation and motion: in many VR applications, optic flow elicits an illusory sensation of motion which tells users that they are moving in a certain direction with certain acceleration. However, since users are not actually moving, their proprioceptive and vestibular organs provide no cues of self-motion. These conflicting signals may lead to sensory discrepancies and eventually cybersickness. Here we review the current literature to develop a conceptual scheme for understanding the neural mechanisms of cybersickness. We discuss an approach to cybersickness based on sensory cue integration, focusing on the dynamic re-weighting of visual and vestibular signals for self-motion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gallagher
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
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18
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Pavlidou A, Ferrè ER, Lopez C. Vestibular stimulation makes people more egocentric. Cortex 2017; 101:302-305. [PMID: 29329639 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Revised: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 10/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
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19
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Török Á, Ferrè ER, Kokkinara E, Csépe V, Swapp D, Haggard P. Up, Down, Near, Far: An Online Vestibular Contribution to Distance Judgement. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169990. [PMID: 28085939 PMCID: PMC5235368 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether a visual stimulus seems near or far away depends partly on its vertical elevation. Contrasting theories suggest either that perception of distance could vary with elevation, because of memory of previous upwards efforts in climbing to overcome gravity, or because of fear of falling associated with the downwards direction. The vestibular system provides a fundamental signal for the downward direction of gravity, but the relation between this signal and depth perception remains unexplored. Here we report an experiment on vestibular contributions to depth perception, using Virtual Reality. We asked participants to judge the absolute distance of an object presented on a plane at different elevations during brief artificial vestibular inputs. Relative to distance estimates collected with the object at the level of horizon, participants tended to overestimate distances when the object was presented above the level of horizon and the head was tilted upward and underestimate them when the object was presented below the level of horizon. Interestingly, adding artificial vestibular inputs strengthened these distance biases, showing that online multisensory signals, and not only stored information, contribute to such distance illusions. Our results support the gravity theory of depth perception, and show that vestibular signals make an on-line contribution to the perception of effort, and thus of distance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ágoston Török
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Elena Kokkinara
- Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatments, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Valéria Csépe
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - David Swapp
- Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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20
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Ferrè ER, Sahani M, Haggard P. Subliminal stimulation and somatosensory signal detection. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2016; 170:103-11. [PMID: 27387873 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2016.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Revised: 06/17/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Only a small fraction of sensory signals is consciously perceived. The brain's perceptual systems may include mechanisms of feedforward inhibition that protect the cortex from subliminal noise, thus reserving cortical capacity and conscious awareness for significant stimuli. Here we provide a new view of these mechanisms based on signal detection theory, and gain control. We demonstrated that subliminal somatosensory stimulation decreased sensitivity for the detection of a subsequent somatosensory input, largely due to increased false alarm rates. By delivering the subliminal somatosensory stimulus and the to-be-detected somatosensory stimulus to different digits of the same hand, we show that this effect spreads across the sensory surface. In addition, subliminal somatosensory stimulation tended to produce an increased probability of responding "yes", whether the somatosensory stimulus was present or not. Our results suggest that subliminal stimuli temporarily reduce input gain, avoiding excessive responses to further small inputs. This gain control may be automatic, and may precede discriminative classification of inputs into signals or noise. Crucially, we found that subliminal inputs influenced false alarm rates only on blocks where the to-be-detected stimuli were present, and not on pre-test control blocks where they were absent. Participants appeared to adjust their perceptual criterion according to a statistical distribution of stimuli in the current context, with the presence of supraliminal stimuli having an important role in the criterion-setting process. These findings clarify the cognitive mechanisms that reserve conscious perception for salient and important signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK.
| | - Maneesh Sahani
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, 25 Howland Street, London, W1T4JG, UK
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
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21
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Abstract
Vestibular signals are integrated with signals from other sensory modalities. This convergence could reflect an important mechanism for maintaining the perception of the body. Here we review the current literature in order to develop a framework for understanding how the vestibular system contributes to body representation. According to recent models, we distinguish between three processes for body representation, and we look at whether vestibular signals might influence each process. These are (i) somatosensation, the primary sensory processing of somatic stimuli, (ii) somatoperception, the processes of constructing percepts and experiences of somatic objects and events and (iii) somatorepresentation, the knowledge about the body as a physical object in the world. Vestibular signals appear to contribute to all three levels in this model of body processing. Thus, the traditional view of the vestibular system as a low-level, dedicated orienting module tends to underestimate the pervasive role of vestibular input in bodily self-awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- a Department of Psychology , Royal Holloway University of London , Egham , UK.,b Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience , University College London , London , UK
| | - Patrick Haggard
- b Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience , University College London , London , UK
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22
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Ferrè ER, Haggard P, Bottini G, Iannetti GD. Caloric vestibular stimulation modulates nociceptive evoked potentials. Exp Brain Res 2015; 233:3393-401. [PMID: 26282602 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4412-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2014] [Accepted: 08/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Vestibular stimulation has been reported to alleviate central pain. Clinical and physiological studies confirm pervasive interactions between vestibular signals and somatosensory circuits, including nociception. However, the neural mechanisms underlying vestibular-induced analgesia remain unclear, and previous clinical studies cannot rule out explanations based on alternative, non-specific effects such as distraction or placebo. To investigate how vestibular inputs influence nociception, we combined caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) with psychophysical and electrocortical responses elicited by nociceptive-specific laser stimulation in humans (laser-evoked potentials, LEPs). Cold water CVS applied to the left ear resulted in significantly lower subjective pain intensity for experimental laser pain to the left hand immediately after CVS, relative both to before CVS and to 1 h after CVS. This transient reduction in pain perception was associated with reduced amplitude of all LEP components, including the early N1 wave reflecting the first arrival of nociceptive input to primary somatosensory cortex. We conclude that cold left ear CVS elicits a modulation of both nociceptive processing and pain perception. The analgesic effect induced by CVS could be mediated either by subcortical gating of the ascending nociceptive input, or by direct modulation of the primary somatosensory cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Gabriella Bottini
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Gian Domenico Iannetti
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK
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Ferrè ER, Berlot E, Haggard P. Vestibular contributions to a right-hemisphere network for bodily awareness: combining galvanic vestibular stimulation and the "Rubber Hand Illusion". Neuropsychologia 2015; 69:140-7. [PMID: 25619847 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.01.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2014] [Revised: 01/07/2015] [Accepted: 01/21/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
An altered sense of one's own body is a common consequence of vestibular damage, and also of damage to vestibular networks in the right hemisphere. However, few experimental studies have investigated whether vestibular signals contribute to bodily awareness. We addressed this issue by combining an established experimental model of bodily awareness (Rubber Hand Illusion -RHI) with galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) in healthy participants. Brief left anodal and right cathodal GVS (which predominantly activates vestibular networks in the right hemisphere), or right anodal and left cathodal GVS, or sham stimulation were delivered at random, while participants experienced either synchronous or asynchronous visuo-tactile stimulation of a rubber hand and their own hand. The drift in the perceived position of the participant's hand towards the rubber hand was used as a proxy measure of the resulting multisensory illusion of body ownership. GVS induced strong polarity-dependent effects on this measure of RHI: left anodal and right cathodal GVS produced significantly lower proprioceptive drift than right anodal and left cathodal GVS. We suggest that vestibular inputs influence the multisensory weighting functions that underlie bodily awareness: the right hemisphere vestibular projections activated by the left anodal and right cathodal GVS increased the weight of intrinsic proprioceptive signals about hand position, and decreased the weight of visual information responsible for visual capture during the RHI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
| | - Eva Berlot
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
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24
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Abstract
No unimodal vestibular cortex has been identified in the human brain. Rather, vestibular inputs are strongly integrated with signals from other sensory modalities, such as vision, touch and proprioception. This convergence could reflect an important mechanism for maintaining a perception of the body, including individual body parts, relative to the rest of the environment. Neuroimaging, electrophysiological and psychophysical studies showed evidence for multisensory interactions between vestibular and somatosensory signals. However, no convincing overall theoretical framework has been proposed for vestibular–somatosensory interactions, and it remains unclear whether such percepts are by-products of neural convergence, or a functional multimodal integration. Here we review the current literature on vestibular–multisensory interactions in order to develop a framework for understanding the functions of such multimodal interaction. We propose that the target of vestibular–somatosensory interactions is a form of self-representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
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25
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
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26
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Ferrè ER, Kaliuzhna M, Herbelin B, Haggard P, Blanke O. Vestibular-somatosensory interactions: effects of passive whole-body rotation on somatosensory detection. PLoS One 2014; 9:e86379. [PMID: 24466064 PMCID: PMC3897730 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2013] [Accepted: 12/11/2013] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Vestibular signals are strongly integrated with information from several other sensory modalities. For example, vestibular stimulation was reported to improve tactile detection. However, this improvement could reflect either a multimodal interaction or an indirect interaction driven by vestibular effects on spatial attention and orienting. Here we investigate whether natural vestibular activation induced by passive whole-body rotation influences tactile detection. In particular, we assessed the ability to detect faint tactile stimuli to the fingertips of the left and right hand during spatially congruent or incongruent rotations. We found that passive whole-body rotations significantly enhanced sensitivity to faint shocks, without affecting response bias. Critically, this enhancement of somatosensory sensitivity did not depend on the spatial congruency between the direction of rotation and the hand stimulated. Thus, our results support a multimodal interaction, likely in brain areas receiving both vestibular and somatosensory signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Raffaella Ferrè
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Mariia Kaliuzhna
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Herbelin
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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27
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Ferrè ER, Vagnoni E, Haggard P. Vestibular contributions to bodily awareness. Neuropsychologia 2013; 51:1445-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2012] [Revised: 04/15/2013] [Accepted: 04/16/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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28
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Fiori F, Sedda A, Ferrè ER, Toraldo A, Querzola M, Pasotti F, Ovadia D, Piroddi C, Dell'Aquila R, Redaelli T, Bottini G. Motor imagery in spinal cord injury patients: Moving makes the difference. J Neuropsychol 2013; 8:199-215. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2012] [Revised: 03/25/2013] [Accepted: 03/28/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Federico Fiori
- Center of Cognitive Neuropsychology; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
| | - Anna Sedda
- Department of Humanistic Studies - Psychology Section; University of Pavia; Italy
| | | | - Alessio Toraldo
- Department of Humanistic Studies - Psychology Section; University of Pavia; Italy
| | - Matteo Querzola
- Center of Cognitive Neuropsychology; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
| | - Fabrizio Pasotti
- Center of Cognitive Neuropsychology; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
| | - Daniela Ovadia
- Center of Cognitive Neuropsychology; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
| | - Chiara Piroddi
- Unipolar Spinal Unit; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
| | | | | | - Gabriella Bottini
- Center of Cognitive Neuropsychology; A.O. Niguarda Ca' Granda; Milan Italy
- Department of Humanistic Studies - Psychology Section; University of Pavia; Italy
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29
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Ferrè ER, Vagnoni E, Haggard P. Galvanic vestibular stimulation influences randomness of number generation. Exp Brain Res 2012; 224:233-41. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3302-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2012] [Accepted: 10/05/2012] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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30
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Ferrè ER, Bottini G, Haggard P. Vestibular inputs modulate somatosensory cortical processing. Brain Struct Funct 2012; 217:859-64. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-012-0404-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2011] [Accepted: 03/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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31
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