Viewing a Face (Especially One's Own Face) Being Touched Enhances Tactile Perception on the Face
Abstract
Observing touch on another person's body activates brain regions involved in tactile perception, even when the observer's body is not directly stimulated. Previous work has shown that in some synaesthetes, this effect induces a sensation of being touched. The present study shows that if perceptual thresholds are experimentally manipulated, viewing touch can modulate tactile experience in nonsynaesthetes as well. When observers saw a face being touched by hands, rather than a face being merely approached by hands, they demonstrated enhanced detection of subthreshold tactile stimuli on their own faces. This effect was specific to observing touch on a body part, and was not found for touch on a nonbodily stimulus, namely, a picture of a house. In addition, the effect was stronger when subjects viewed their own faces rather than another person's face. Thus, observing touch can activate the tactile system, and if perceptual thresholds are manipulated, such activation can result in a behavioral effect in nonsynaesthetes. The effect is maximum if the observed body matches the observer's body.
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Viewing the body modulates interpersonal tactile responses.
“For instance, viewing the body increases tactile perception [119], modulates interpersonal tactile responses [120,121], affects social cognition [122,123], and concept processing [55].”
From First-person view of one’s body in immersive virtual reality: Influence on episodic memory (2019) · cites this paper as [120]
The vPMc was activated more when the seen face belonged to another person, rather than to themselves.
“In addition, the vPMc was activated more when the seen face belonged to another person, rather than to themselves (see also Serino, Pizzoferrato, & Ladavas, 2008).”
From Bodily ownership and self-location: Components of bodily self-consciousness (2013) · cites this paper as Serino et al., 2008
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- Authors
- Serino, A., Pizzoferrato, F., & Làdavas, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Bologna (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Serino, Andrea
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-05
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 434-438
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2095988902
- Cited by
- 117
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- tactile perception, body image, synesthesia, perceptual thresholds, multisensory integration
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Cheek, Electric Stimulation, Face, Female, Humans, Italy, Male, Perceptual Masking, Reference Values, Students, Touch, Visual Perception
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