Contingent sounds change the mental representation of one's finger length

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Ana Tajadura-Jiménez - , University College London, Loyola University Andalusia (Author)
  • Maria Vakali - , University College London (Author)
  • Merle T. Fairhurst - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of London (Author)
  • Alisa Mandrigin - , University of Warwick (Author)
  • Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze - , University College London (Author)
  • Ophelia Deroy - , School of Advanced Study, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)

Abstract

Mental body-representations are highly plastic and can be modified after brief exposure to unexpected sensory feedback. While the role of vision, touch and proprioception in shaping body-representations has been highlighted by many studies, the auditory influences on mental body-representations remain poorly understood. Changes in body-representations by the manipulation of natural sounds produced when one's body impacts on surfaces have recently been evidenced. But will these changes also occur with non-naturalistic sounds, which provide no information about the impact produced by or on the body? Drawing on the well-documented capacity of dynamic changes in pitch to elicit impressions of motion along the vertical plane and of changes in object size, we asked participants to pull on their right index fingertip with their left hand while they were presented with brief sounds of rising, falling or constant pitches, and in the absence of visual information of their hands. Results show an "auditory Pinocchio" effect, with participants feeling and estimating their finger to be longer after the rising pitch condition. These results provide the first evidence that sounds that are not indicative of veridical movement, such as non-naturalistic sounds, can induce a Pinocchio-like change in body-representation when arbitrarily paired with a bodily action.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number5748
JournalScientific reports
Volume7
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 28720803
ORCID /0000-0001-6540-5891/work/150883496

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas