Neural basis of embodiment: distinct contributions of temporoparietal junction and extrastriate body area.

Full Abstract

Embodiment, the sense of being localized within one's physical body, is a fundamental aspect of the self. Recently, researchers have started to show that self and body processing require distinct brain mechanisms, suggesting two posterior brain regions as key loci:
the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which is involved in self processing and multisensory integration of body-related information; and the extrastriate body area (EBA), which responds selectively to human bodies and body parts. Here we used evoked potential mapping and a distributed linear inverse solution to show that activations in EBA and TPJ code differentially for embodiment and self location, because the location and timing of brain activation depended on whether mental imagery is performed with mentally embodied (EBA) or disembodied (TPJ) self location. In a second experiment, we showed that only EBA activation, related to embodied self location, but not TPJ activation, related to disembodied self location, was modified by the subjects' body position during task performance (supine or sitting). This suggests that embodied self location and actual body location share neural mechanisms. Collectively, these data show that distributed brain activity at the EBA and TPJ as well as their timing are crucial for the coding of the self as embodied and as spatially situated within the human body.

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Author information

Author/s: Arzy, Shahar (S); Thut, Gregor (G); Mohr, Christine (C); Michel, Christoph M (CM); Blanke, Olaf (O);

Affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 26 (issue 31) : pp 8074-81

Dates: Created 2006/08/03; Completed 2006/09/05; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16885221, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Body Image
Brain Mapping
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Humans
Illusions - physiology

Imagination - physiology
Male
Parietal Lobe
Self Concept
Temporal Lobe - physiology
Visual Cortex - physiology

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