What can mirror-touch synaesthesia tell us about the sense of agency?

Maria Cristina Cioffi,Michael J Banissy,James W Moore

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00256

Maria Cristina Cioffi, Michael J Banissy + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00256

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Abstract

Sense of agency (SoAg) refers to the feeling of control over one's actions and forms an integral part of our cognitive and social lives (Moore and Fletcher, 2012). For example, it is thought that the recognition of oneself as the agent of an action plays a fundamental role in self-awareness (Jeannerod, 2003). It is also thought that the experience of agency is important for guiding our attributions of responsibility (Haggard and Tsakiris, 2009).

Highlights

Sense of agency (SoAg) refers to the feeling of control over one’s actions and forms an integral part of our cognitive and social lives (Moore and Fletcher, 2012)
That is to say that individuals observed touch to other people, but veridical synchronous touch was not physically applied to the face. They showed that MT synaesthetes experienced the same effect of “enfacement illusion” in the absence of a touch applied to their face, concluding that viewing the touch on others evokes changes in self-other representations in mirror-touch synaesthesia (MTS)
Wegner et al found that participants experienced a SoAg and ownership over the arm that appeared in the mirror and that their experience of controlling the movements was increased when the previews were congruent with the action the experimenter made

Summary

Introduction

Sense of agency (SoAg) refers to the feeling of control over one’s actions and forms an integral part of our cognitive and social lives (Moore and Fletcher, 2012). Recent studies (e.g., Aimola-Davies and White, 2013; Holle et al, 2013; Maister et al, 2013) suggest that individuals with MTS have atypical self-other representations. They showed that MT synaesthetes experienced the same effect of “enfacement illusion” in the absence of a touch applied to their face, concluding that viewing the touch on others evokes changes in self-other representations in MTS.

Results

Conclusion