Neurological and robot-controlled induction of an apparition
Open accessAbstract
Tales of ghosts, wraiths, and other apparitions have been reported in virtually all cultures. The strange sensation that somebody is nearby when no one is actually present and cannot be seen (feeling of a presence, FoP) is a fascinating feat of the human mind, and this apparition is often covered in the literature of divinity, occultism, and fiction. Although it is described by neurological and psychiatric patients and healthy individuals in different situations, it is not yet understood how the phenomenon is triggered by the brain. Here, we performed lesion analysis in neurological FoP patients, supported by an analysis of associated neurological deficits. Our data show that the FoP is an illusory own-body perception with well-defined characteristics that is associated with sensorimotor loss and caused by lesions in three distinct brain regions: temporoparietal, insular, and especially frontoparietal cortex. Based on these data and recent experimental advances of multisensory own-body illusions, we designed a master-slave robotic system that generated specific sensorimotor conflicts and enabled us to induce the FoP and related illusory own-body perceptions experimentally in normal participants. These data show that the illusion of feeling another person nearby is caused by misperceiving the source and identity of sensorimotor (tactile, proprioceptive, and motor) signals of one's own body. Our findings reveal the neural mechanisms of the FoP, highlight the subtle balance of brain mechanisms that generate the experience of "self" and "other," and advance the understanding of the brain mechanisms responsible for hallucinations in schizophrenia.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Sample size was derived from power analysis targeting an effect size of 0.6 for the present experiments.
“Sample size was derived from power analysis of previous BSC studies [97,98] and previous studies on mental time travel [28,30]. According to these studies, our target effect size was 0.6 for the present experiments.”
From First-person view of one’s body in immersive virtual reality: Influence on episodic memory (2019) · cites this paper as [97]
Cites
The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-0601 · Cited by 1,901 · see citing works
Central cancellation of self-produced tickle sensation
Blakemore, S.-J., Wolpert, D. M., & Frith, C. D. (1998) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/2870 · Cited by 1,467 · see citing works
Perceiving is believing: a Bayesian approach to explaining the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
Fletcher, P. C., & Frith, C. D. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2536 · Cited by 1,462 · see citing works
That's my hand! Activity in premotor cortex reflects feeling of ownership of a limb
Ehrsson, H. H., Spence, C., & Passingham, R. E. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1097011 · Cited by 1,348 · see citing works
Improving Lesion-Symptom Mapping
Rorden, C., Karnath, H., & Bonilha, L. (2007) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2007.19.7.1081 · Cited by 1,347 · see citing works
Coding of modified body schema during tool use by macaque postcentral neurones
lriki, A., Tanaka, M., & Iwamura, Y. (1996) · NeuroReport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199610020-00010 · Cited by 1,274 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…cortex [20], insula [24], and frontoparietal cortex [5, 25] have been associated with bodily self-consciousness and are areas that integrate sensorimotor or multisensory bodily signals, as shown in human [26] and nonhuman primates [27, 28], compatible with the sensorimotor deficits we observed.”
BackgroundVideo ergo sum: manipulating bodily self-consciousness
Lenggenhager, B., Tadi, T., Metzinger, T., & Blanke, O. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1143439 · Cited by 1,265 · see citing works
Self-citationMultisensory brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness.
Blanke, O. (2012) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3292 · Cited by 1,147 · see citing works
Self-citationFull-body illusions and minimal phenomenal selfhood
Blanke, O., & Metzinger, T. (2009) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.10.003 · Cited by 1,060 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Based on the present findings, earlier data using trunk stimulation [30], and theoretical considerations [35], we argue that the sensorimotor arm-trunk conflict in association with strong spatial incompatibility of self-touch induced the FoP.”
ResultSelf-citationStengel, E. (1960) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5178.1031-b · Cited by 990 · see citing works
The experimental induction of out-of-body experiences
Ehrsson, H. H. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1142175 · Cited by 959 · see citing works
Abnormalities in the awareness of action.
Blakemore, S.-J., Wolpert, D. M., & Frith, C. D. (2002) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(02)01907-1 · Cited by 947 · see citing works
The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia
Garety, P. A. (1993) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(93)90350-c · Cited by 833 · see citing works
Ehrsson, H. H., Holmes, N. P., & Passingham, R. E. (2005) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0800-05.2005 · Cited by 784 · see citing works
Modulating the experience of agency: a positron emission tomography study
Farrer, C., Franck, N., Georgieff, N., Frith, C. D., Decety, J., & Jeannerod, M. (2003) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(02)00041-1 · Cited by 755 · see citing works
Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin
Blanke, O., Landis, T., Spinelli, L., & Seeck, M. (2004) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awh040 · Cited by 747 · see citing works
Self-citationFrith, C. D. (1987) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700025873 · Cited by 655 · see citing works
Neural signatures of body ownership: a sensory network for bodily self-consciousness
Tsakiris, M., Hesse, M. D., Boy, C., Haggard, P., & Fink, G. R. (2007) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhl131 · Cited by 625 · see citing works
Efference copy and corollary discharge: implications for thinking and its disorders
Feinberg, I. (1978) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/4.4.636 · Cited by 592 · see citing works
Coding the location of the arm by sight
Graziano, M. S. A., Cooke, D. F., & Taylor, C. S. R. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.290.5497.1782 · Cited by 550 · see citing works
The mechanism of self-recognition in humans.
Jeannerod, M. (2003) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0166-4328(02)00384-4 · Cited by 515 · see citing works
Some proprioceptive influences on the perceptual representation of body shape and orientation.
LACKNER, J. R. (1988) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/111.2.281 · Cited by 500 · see citing works
Ionta, S., Heydrich, L., Lenggenhager, B., Mouthon, M., Fornari, E., Chapuis, D., Gassert, R., & Blanke, O. (2011) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.009 · Cited by 473 · see citing works
Self-citationShared cortical anatomy for motor awareness and motor control
Berti, A., Bottini, G., Gandola, M., Pia, L., Smania, N., Stracciari, A., Castiglioni, I., Vallar, G., & Paulesu, E. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1110625 · Cited by 351 · see citing works
From part- to whole-body ownership in the multisensory brain
Petkova, V. I., Björnsdotter, M., Gentile, G., Jonsson, T., Li, T.-Q., & Ehrsson, H. H. (2011) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.022 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Spatial normalization of lesioned brains: Performance evaluation and impact on fMRI analyses
Crinion, J., Ashburner, J., Leff, A. P., Brett, M., Price, C. J., & Friston, K. J. (2007) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.04.065 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Preliminary Observations on Tickling Oneself
Weiskrantz, L., Elliott, J. M., & Darlington, C. D. (1971) · Nature · doi:10.1038/230598a0 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Bodily ownership and self-location: Components of bodily self-consciousness
Serino, A., Alsmith, A., Costantini, M., Mandrigin, A., Tajadura-Jimenez, A., & Lopez, C. (2013) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2013.08.013 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Self-citationInduction of an illusory shadow person
Arzy, S., Seeck, M., Ortigue, S., Spinelli, L., & Blanke, O. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/443287a · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Self-citationSpatial aspects of bodily self-consciousness.
Lenggenhager, B., Mouthon, M., & Blanke, O. (2009) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2008.11.003 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Self-citationExtraoperative Cortical Functional Localization in Patients with Epilepsy
Lesser, R. P., Lüders, H. O., Klem, G. H., Dinner, D. S., Morris, H. H., Hahn, J. F., & Wyllie, E. (1987) · Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology · doi:10.1097/00004691-198701000-00003 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Distinct illusory own-body perceptions caused by damage to posterior insula and extrastriate cortex.
Heydrich, L., & Blanke, O. (2013) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/aws364 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Self-citationLocation of the human frontal eye field as defined by electrical cortical stimulation
Blanke, O., Spinelli, L., Thut, G., Michel, C. M., Perrig, S. H., Landis, T., & Seeck, M. (2000) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200006260-00021 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Self-citationPfeiffer, C., Christophe Lopez, A., Schmutz, V., Dueñas, J., Martuzzi, R., & Blanke, O. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0061751 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationHallucinatory experiences in extreme-altitude climbers.
Brugger, P., Regard, M., Landis, T., & Oelz, O. (1999) · PubMed · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Self-citationMenzer, F., Brooks, A., Halje, P., Faller, C., Vetterli, M., & Blanke, O. (2010) · Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17588921003743581 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationTemporal and spatial determination of EEG-seizure onset in the frequency domain
Blanke, O., Lantz, G., Seeck, M., Spinelli, L., de Peralta, R. G., Thut, G., Landis, T., & Michel, C. M. (2000) · Clinical Neurophysiology · doi:10.1016/s1388-2457(00)00251-0 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Self-citationSomatoparaphrenia: A Case Report
Nightingale, S. (1982) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(82)80043-9 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Knoblich, G., & Repp, B. H. (2009) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.007 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The "Sensed Presence" in Unusual Environments Peter Suedfeld
Suedfeld, P., & Mocellin, J. S. P. (1987) · Environment and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0013916587191002 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Chapter 22 Illusory reduplications of the human body and self
(2008) · Handbook of Clinical Neurology · doi:10.1016/s0072-9752(07)88022-5 · Cited by 48 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Although the FoP has been described in psychiatric [1, 2, 15, 16] and neurological patients [2, 16], its neural origin is unknown.”
BackgroundSelf-citationCritchley, M. (1955) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1955.tb06055.x · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Über leibhaftige Bewußtheiten (Bewußtheitstäuschungen), ein psychopathologisches Elementarsymptom
Jaspers, K. (1990) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-62027-0_8 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Comprehensive Postictal Neuropsychology Improves Focus Localization in Epilepsy
Pegna, A. J., Qayoom, Z., Gericke, C. A., Landis, T., & Seeck, M. (1998) · European Neurology · doi:10.1159/000007981 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationA novel approach to the manipulation of body-parts ownership using a bilateral master-slave system
Hara, M., Rognini, G., Evans, N. J., Blanke, O., Yamamoto, A., Bleuler, H., & Higuchi, T. (2011) · IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) · doi:10.1109/iros.2011.6094879 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationMessner, R. (2003) · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Lesser, R. P. (1987) · Annals of Neurology · doi:10.1002/ana.410210319 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
3 of the 50 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brain mechanisms in religion and spirituality: An integrative predictive processing framework
van Elk, M., & Aleman, A. (2016) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.031 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
The spatial self in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder
Noel, J.-P., Cascio, C. J., Wallace, M. T., & Park, S. (2017) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2016.09.021 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Seeking the supernatural: the Interactive Religious Experience Model
Leeuwen, N. V., & van Elk, M. (2018) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2018.1453529 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
First-person view of one’s body in immersive virtual reality: Influence on episodic memory
Bréchet, L., Mange, R., Herbelin, B., Theillaud, Q., Gauthier, B., Serino, A., & Blanke, O. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197763 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationVoluntary self-touch increases body ownership
Hara, M., Pozeg, P., Rognini, G., Higuchi, T., Fukuhara, K., Yamamoto, A., Higuchi, T., Blanke, O., & Salomon, R. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01509 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citationNoel, J., Blanke, O., & Serino, A. (2018) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.13867 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationEmbodied Predictions, Agency, and Psychosis
Leptourgos, P., & Corlett, P. R. (2020) · Frontiers in Big Data · doi:10.3389/fdata.2020.00027 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The boundaries of the self: The sense of agency across different sensorimotor aspects
Krugwasser, A. R., Harel, E. V., & Salomon, R. (2019) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/19.4.14 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Self-citationThe wobbly table: Increased social presence via subtle incidental movement of a real-virtual table
Lee, M., Kim, K., Daher, S., Raij, A., Schubert, R., Bailenson, J., & Welch, G. (2016) · IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces · doi:10.1109/vr.2016.7504683 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Bejr‐Kasem, H., Sampedro, F., Marín‐Lahoz, J., Martínez‐Horta, S., Pagonabarraga, J., & Kulisevsky, J. (2020) · European Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1111/ene.14576 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Effects of Unaugmented Periphery and Vibrotactile Feedback on Proxemics with Virtual Humans in AR
Lee, M., Bruder, G., Höllerer, T., & Welch, G. (2018) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2018.2794074 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Lee, M., Bruder, G., & Welch, G. F. (2017) · IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces · doi:10.1109/vr.2017.7892237 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Trust as Extended Control: Human-Machine Interactions as Active Inference
Schoeller, F., Miller, M. M., Salomon, R., & Friston, K. J. (2021) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2021.669810 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Self-citationBernasconi, F., Blondiaux, E., Potheegadoo, J., Stripeikyte, G., Pagonabarraga, J., Bejr‐Kasem, H., Bassolino, M., Akselrod, M., Martínez‐Horta, S., Sampedro, F., et al. (2021) · Science Translational Medicine · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.abc8362 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Self-citationMaking Sense of the Body: the Role of Vestibular Signals
Christophe Lopez, A. (2015) · Multisensory Research · doi:10.1163/22134808-00002490 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Implicit Timing as the Missing Link between Neurobiological and Self Disorders in Schizophrenia?
Giersch, A., Lalanne, L., & Isope, P. (2016) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00303 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Neural bases of the bodily self as revealed by electrical brain stimulation: A systematic review
Dary, Z., Lenggenhager, B., Lagarde, S., Medina Villalon, S., Bartolomei, F., & Lopez, C. (2023) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.26253 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
The bodily self: Insights from clinical and experimental research
Diéguez, S., & Christophe Lopez, A. (2016) · Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.rehab.2016.04.007 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Sensorimotor conflicts alter metacognitive and action monitoring
Faivre, N., Vuillaume, L., Bernasconi, F., Salomon, R., Blanke, O., & Cleeremans, A. (2018) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2019.12.001 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationImpaired sense of agency and associated confidence in psychosis
Krugwasser, A. R., Stern, Y., Faivre, N., Harel, E. V., & Salomon, R. (2022) · Schizophrenia · doi:10.1038/s41537-022-00212-4 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationFifty Percent Prevalence of Extracampine Hallucinations in Parkinson’s Disease Patients
Wood, R. A., Hopkins, S. A., Moodley, K. K., & Chan, D. (2015) · Frontiers in Neurology · doi:10.3389/fneur.2015.00263 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
In the presence of others: Self-location, balance control and vestibular processing
Lopez, C., Falconer, C. J., Deroualle, D., & Mast, F. W. (2015) · Neurophysiologie Clinique · doi:10.1016/j.neucli.2015.09.001 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Bodily self-consciousness and its disorders
Ronchi, R., Park, H.-D., & Blanke, O. (2018) · Handbook of clinical neurology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-63622-5.00015-2 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationSensorimotor Induction of Auditory Misattribution in Early Psychosis
Salomon, R., Progin, P., Griffa, A., Rognini, G., Kim, Q., Conus, P., Marchesotti, S., Bernasconi, F., Hagmann, P., Serino, A., et al. (2019) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbz136 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationCognetics: Robotic Interfaces for the Conscious Mind
Rognini, G., & Blanke, O. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.12.002 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Assembly of the Self from Sensory and Motor Foundations
Salomon, R. (2017) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.2017.35.2.87 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationParkinson's disease alters multisensory perception: Insights from the Rubber Hand Illusion
Ding, C., Palmer, C. J., Hohwy, J., Youssef, G. J., Paton, B. K., Tsuchiya, N., Stout, J. C., & Thyagarajan, D. E. (2017) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.031 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Depersonalization‐ and derealization‐like phenomena of epileptic origin
Heydrich, L., Marillier, G., Evans, N. J., Seeck, M., & Blanke, O. (2019) · Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology · doi:10.1002/acn3.50870 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationThe sense of presence: lessons from virtual reality
Erickson‐Davis, C., Luhrmann, T., Kurina, L., Weisman, K., Cornman, N., Corwin, A., & Bailenson, J. (2021) · Religion, Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.1953573 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Sensorimotor conflicts induce somatic passivity and louden quiet voices in healthy listeners
Orepić, P., Rognini, G., Kannape, O. A., Faivre, N., & Blanke, O. (2021) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2021.03.014 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationAlderson-Day, B., Moseley, P., Mitrenga, K., Moffatt, J., Lee, R., Foxwell, J., Hayes, J., Smailes, D., & Fernyhough, C. (2022) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291722000344 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
The felt-presence experience: from cognition to the clinic
Barnby, J. M., Park, S., Baxter, T., Rosen, C., Brugger, P., & Alderson‐Day, B. (2023) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00034-2 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Agency Deficits in a Human Genetic Model of Schizophrenia: Insights From 22q11DS Patients
Salomon, R., Kannape, O. A., Debarba, H. G., Kaliuzhna, M., Schneider, M., Faivre, N., D, S. E. M., & Blanke, O. (2021) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbab143 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationThe perspectives of mapping and monitoring of the sense of self in neurosurgical patients
Schaller, K., Iannotti, G. R., Orepić, P., Betka, S., Haemmerli, J., Boëx, C., Alcoba-Banqueri, S., Garín, D., Herbelin, B., Park, H.-D., et al. (2021) · Acta Neurochirurgica · doi:10.1007/s00701-021-04778-3 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationEuropean regulatory framework for person carrier robots
Fosch‐Villaronga, E., & Roig, A. (2017) · Computer law & security review · doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2017.03.018 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Blanke, O., Faivre, N., & Diéguez, S. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800948-2.00020-0 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationDatteri, E. (2020) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-020-02533-2 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
An invisible touch: Body-related multisensory conflicts modulate visual consciousness
Salomon, R., Galli, G., Łukowska, M., Faivre, N., Bello‐Ruiz, J., & Blanke, O. (2015) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.10.034 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationAnchoring the Self to the Body in Bilateral Vestibular Failure
Deroualle, D., Toupet, M., Nechel, C. V., Duquesne, U., Hautefort, C., & Lopez, C. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170488 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Stripeikyte, G., Potheegadoo, J., Progin, P., Rognini, G., Blondiaux, E., Salomon, R., Griffa, A., Hagmann, P., Faivre, N., Kim, Q., et al. (2021) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbab031 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationByrne, D., Lockton, D., Hu, M., Luong, M., Ranade, A., Escarcha, K., Giesa, K., Huang, Y., Yochum, C., Robertson, G., et al. (2022) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3532106.3533547 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Orepić, P., Park, H., Rognini, G., Faivre, N., & Blanke, O. (2022) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14016 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationUnReal? Investigating the Sense of Reality and Psychotic Symptoms with Virtual Reality
Drori, G., Bar-Tal, P., Stern, Y., Zvilichovsky, Y., & Salomon, R. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm9061627 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationSerino, A., Pozeg, P., Bernasconi, F., Solcà, M., Hara, M., Progin, P., Stripeikyte, G., Dhanis, H., Salomon, R., Bleuler, H., et al. (2020) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101955 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationAlderson‐Day, B., Moseley, P., Mitrenga, K. J., Moffatt, J. A., Lee, R., Foxwell, J., Hayes, J., Smailes, D., & Fernyhough, C. (2023) · Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Neuroscience robotics for controlled induction and real-time assessment of hallucinations
Bernasconi, F., Blondiaux, E., Rognini, G., Dhanis, H., Jenni, L., Potheegadoo, J., Hara, M., & Blanke, O. (2022) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/s41596-022-00737-z · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationAlbert, L., Potheegadoo, J., Herbelin, B., Bernasconi, F., & Blanke, O. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45912-w · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationPresence phenomena in parkinsonian disorders: Phenomenology and neuropsychological correlates
Reckner, E., Lisa Cipolotti, A., & Foley, J. A. (2020) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.5303 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Assess and rehabilitate body representations via (neuro)robotics: An emergent perspective
Risso, G., & Bassolino, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Neurorobotics · doi:10.3389/fnbot.2022.964720 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Corwin, A. I., & Erickson-Davis, C. R. (2020) · Hau Journal of Ethnographic Theory · doi:10.1086/708542 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Sensed Presence, Attenuated Psychosis, and Transliminality: At the Threshold of Consciousness
Rosen, C., Park, S., Baxter, T., Tufano, M., & Giersch, A. (2023) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000528572 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Galen, L. (2017) · Method & Theory in the Study of Religion · doi:10.1163/15700682-12341393 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Jouybari, A. F., Jeanmonod, K., Kannape, O. A., Potheegadoo, J., Bleuler, H., Hara, M., & Blanke, O. (2021) · IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems · doi:10.1109/tcds.2021.3051395 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationLegal Issues for Mobile Servant Robots
Fosch‐Villaronga, E., & VIRK, G. S. (2016) · Advances in intelligent systems and computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-49058-8_66 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Prayer and Perceptual (and Other) Experiences
Schille-Hudson, E. B., Weisman, K., & Luhrmann, T. M. (2024) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.70029 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The bodily self from psychosis to psychedelics
Harduf, A., Panishev, G., Harel, E. V., Stern, Y., & Salomon, R. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-47600-z · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationLesur, M. R., Bolt, E., Saetta, G., & Lenggenhager, B. (2021) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103223 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Mirror Worlds as Agent Societies Situated in Mixed Reality Environments
Ricci, A., Tummolini, L., Piunti, M., Boissier, O., & Castelfranchi, C. (2015) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-25420-3_13 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Sense of self impacts spatial navigation and hexadirectional coding in human entorhinal cortexPreprint
Moon, H.-J., Gauthier, B., Park, H.-D., Faivre, N., & Blanke, O. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.09.13.295246 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationNicastro, N., Stripeikyte, G., Assal, F., Garibotto, V., & Blanke, O. (2021) · NeuroImage Clinical · doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102791 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationSchjoedt, U., & van Elk, M. (2022) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190693350.013.16 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Datteri, E., Chaminade, T., & Romano, D. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.819042 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
(2019) · Journal of Neurology and Psychology · doi:10.13188/2332-3469.1000043 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Orepić, P., Bernasconi, F., Faggella, M., Faivre, N., & Blanke, O. (2023) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291723002222 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationToward a Unified Social Motor Cognition Theory of Understanding Mirror-Touch Synaesthesia
Kuang, S. (2016) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00246 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Augmented societies with mirror worlds
Ricci, A., Tummolini, L., & Castelfranchi, C. (2017) · AI & Society · doi:10.1007/s00146-017-0788-2 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Modulation of Bodily Self-Consciousness by Self and External Touch
Hara, M., Kanayama, N., Blanke, O., & Salomon, R. (2021) · IEEE Transactions on Haptics · doi:10.1109/toh.2021.3067651 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationDisorders of body representation
Case, L. K., Solcà, M., Blanke, O., & Faivre, N. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-812492-5.00018-8 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationRobotically-induced hallucination triggers subtle changes in brain network transitions
Dhanis, H., Blondiaux, E., Bolton, T. A. W., Faivre, N., Rognini, G., Ville, D. V. D., & Blanke, O. (2021) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118862 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationPhantom Boarder Relates to Experimentally‐Induced Presence Hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease
Blanke, O., Bernasconi, F., & Potheegadoo, J. (2023) · Movement Disorders Clinical Practice · doi:10.1002/mdc3.13684 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationNenadalová, J., & Řezníček, D. (2024) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2024.2305460 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL‐BEING
Watts, F. (2018) · Zygon® · doi:10.1111/zygo.12412 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Stampacchia, S., Bernasconi, F., Van De Ville, D., Amico, E., Pagonabarraga, J., Kulisevsky, J., & Blanke, O. (2025) · doi:10.1101/2025.04.17.649310 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationReal-time fMRI neurofeedback modulates induced hallucinations and underlying brain mechanisms
Dhanis, H., Gninenko, N., Morgenroth, E., Potheegadoo, J., Rognini, G., Faivre, N., Blanke, O., & Ville, D. V. D. (2024) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06842-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationWalter, Y., & Koenig, T. W. (2023) · Psych · doi:10.3390/psych5040079 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Szczotka, J., & Wierzchoń, M. (2022) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000526869 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Neural signatures of visuo-motor integration during human-robot interactions
Marchesotti, S., Bernasconi, F., Rognini, G., Marzia De Lucia, E., Bleuler, H., & Blanke, O. (2023) · Frontiers in Neurorobotics · doi:10.3389/fnbot.2022.1034615 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationAntoni, A. (2017) · Japanese review of cultural anthropology · doi:10.14890/jrca.18.1_143 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Felt-Presence and Psychosis-Risk in the General Population
Baxter, T., & Park, S. (2025) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000548612 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Visual perspective, distance, and felt presence of others in dreams
Erdeniz, B., Tekgün, E., Lenggenhager, B., & Lopez, C. (2023) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2023.103547 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Torso-mounted Vibrotactile Interface to Experimentally Induce Illusory Own-body Perceptions
Jouybari, A. F., Rognini, G., Hara, M., Bleuler, H., & Blanke, O. (2019) · IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) · doi:10.1109/iros40897.2019.8967629 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationFeeling of a presence and anomalous body perception
Hara, M., Blanke, O., & Kanayama, N. (2021) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0019 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationVehar, N., Potheegadoo, J., & Blanke, O. (2022) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.952736 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationSzymanek, P., & Ciołkosz, M. (2023) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.22811 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Quantitative Analyses of Chronological Changes in Types and Spatial Patterns of Paranormal Events
Suzuki, K., & Yennan, U. (2020) · E-journal GEO · doi:10.4157/ejgeo.15.55 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Sensorimotor hallucinations in Parkinson’s diseasePreprint
Bernasconi, F., Blondiaux, E., Potheegadoo, J., Stripeikyte, G., Pagonabarraga, J., Bejr‐Kasem, H., Bassolino, M., Akselrod, M., Martínez‐Horta, S., Sampedro, F., et al. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.05.11.054619 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationTwo kinds of presence (at least): a commentary on T.M. Luhrmann’s “How God Becomes Real”
Alderson‐Day, B. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2022.2050791 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Digital-robotic markers for hallucinations in Parkinson’s diseasePreprint
Albert, L., Potheegadoo, J., Herbelin, B., Bernasconi, F., & Blanke, O. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.06.14.544929 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationUnreal? A Behavioral, Physiological, and Computational Model of the Sense of RealityPreprint
Drori, G., Bar-Tal, P., Hirsh, O., berlinger, A., Goldberg, N., Zvilichovsky, Y., Hertz, U., Zaidel, A., & Salomon, R. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.04.07.647542 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationXia, S.-J., Zhang, H., Jiang, Y., Chen, X., Chen, Y., Li, Z., Wan, Z., & Sun, A. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5731427 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Sleeping disorders in children
Sammer, A., & Sammer, F. (2020) · Manuelle Medizin · doi:10.1007/s00337-020-00670-w · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Mediated Physicality: Inducing Illusory Physicality of a Virtual Human via Environmental Objects
Lee, M. (2018) · IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) · doi:10.1109/vr.2018.8446159 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Hacking into Cybertherapy: Considering a Gesture-enhanced Therapy with Avatars (g+TA)
Gerner, A. (2020) · Kairos · doi:10.2478/kjps-2020-0004 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Psychopathological investigation of the personality of “psychic mediums”: Clinical evidence
Giulio, P. (2023) · Annals of Psychiatry and Treatment · doi:10.17352/apt.000047 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Alderson‐Day, B., Moseley, P., Mitrenga, K. J., Moffatt, J. A., Lee, R., Foxwell, J., Hayes, J., Smailes, D., & Fernyhough, C. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/n4kth · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Vehar, N., Potheegadoo, J., Meyer, N. H., Kohoutová, L., Thanh, L. D. P., Stucker, C., Maradan‐Gachet, M. E., Dhanis, H., Burget, L., Stampacchia, S., et al. (2026) · npj Parkinson s Disease · doi:10.1101/2025.06.27.25330420 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationPotheegadoo, J., Thanh, L. F. D. P., Bernasconi, F., Meyer, N. H., Jenni, L., Maradan‐Gachet, M. E., Stucker, C., Chiuvé, S. C., Bally, J. F., Jiménez, M. C., et al. (2025) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.08.22.25334259 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationA probabilistic functional atlas based on extraoperative electrocortical stimulation mappingPreprint
Michalak, A., Yu, L.-Y., Khalilian-Gourtani, A., Seedat, A., Kazl, C., Morrison, C., Resch, Z., Doyle, W. K., Rozman, P. A., Devinsky, O., et al. (2025) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.09.15.676264 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Luhrmann, T. M. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2022.2050799 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Obrenović, M., Mouthon, M., Chavan, C. F., Saj̈, A., Diéguez, S., Aellen, J., & Chabwine, J. N. (2024) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2023.12.020 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Blanke, O., Pozeg, P., Hara, M., Heydrich, L., Serino, A., Yamamoto, A., Higuchi, T., Salomon, R., Seeck, M., Landis, T., Arzy, S., Herbelin, B., Bleuler, H., & Rognini, G.
- Affiliations
- University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Hadassah Medical Center (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Blanke, Olaf
- ORCID
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-11
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 22
- Pages
- 2681-2686
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1998707755
- Semantic Scholar
- 17d950650a5dd9dacf752c79ea49142c3b025ee1
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 18.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Fondation Roger de Spoelberch
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (26700027)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Free Will and Agency
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Keywords
- ghosts, multisensory illusions, master-slave robot system, temporoparietal cortex, insula, frontoparietal cortex, self-other perception, brain lesions, proprioception, tactile perception
- MeSH terms
- Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Humans, Illusions, Robotics
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
