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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Somatosensory signals and the “I” of conscious experience in healthy subjects and neurological patients

Objective

The present project will address key questions on how the representation of the body by the brain contributes to the sense of self. I will intend to study the contribution of somatosensory inputs to bodily self-consciousness in healthy subjects and polyneuropathic patients. Virtual reality and cognitive science in combination with muscle tendon vibrations and brain imaging techniques (high density electroencephalography (EEG)) will be used to reach this goal. I propose to investigate this in the context of the recently described “full body illusion” that uses visuo-tactile conflicts to alter crucial aspects of bodily self-consciousness such as “what we feel as our body” (self identification) and “where we experience our body to be” (self-location). The “full body illusion” will be associated with vibrations applied at the lower limbs in order to determine whether bodily self-consciousness is altered by such somatosensory noise in healthy subjects. The vibration technique reproduces to some extent the degradation of proprioceptive inputs that is generally linked with polyneuropathy. In order to further understand the contribution of the somatosensory system to bodily self-consciousness I also plan to carry out the above described experiments in polyneuropathic patients. This proposal is highly original in its combination of high-quality quantitative psychophysical and neuroimaging studies of fundamental body perception with deep neuroscientific and philosophical questions about the neural basis of the self. This research will be of great relevance not just for science, but also for diagnostics in neurology and psychiatry, neurorehabilitation of polyneuropathic patients, virtual reality applications and man-machine interfaces. Finally, the neuroscience of self-consciousness is also of great interest for the general public. The topic of self-consciousness has not only been a mystery for scientists, but naturally intrigues most humans.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE
EU contribution
€ 172 565,20
Address
BATIMENT CE 3316 STATION 1
1015 LAUSANNE
Switzerland

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Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Vaud
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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