Two Left Hands, Ten Interlaced Fingers: A New Rubber Hand Illusion

Abstract

A variation on the rubber hand paradigm elicits an illusion in which the participant's sense of body ownership can switch back and forth between two viewed prosthetic hands. The interlaced fingers paradigm involves three prosthetic left hands: Two are positioned in full view of the participant, with their fingers interlaced, and the fingers of a third prosthetic hand are interlaced with the fingers of the participant's left hand, which is hidden from view. The examiner alternates brushstrokes to the two viewed prosthetic hands, while administering synchronous brushstrokes to the participant's hidden hand. Most participants experience ownership for the prosthetic hand that is being stroked at a given moment.