Spatial proximity to others induces plastic changes in the neural representation of the peripersonal space

Fossataro, Carlotta; Galigani, Mattia; Sebastiano, Alice Rossi; Bruno, Valentina; Ronga, Irene; Garbarini, Francesca

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105879

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Only a few preliminary observations employed continuous tactile stimulation while recording the EEG (Chota et al, 2023; Fu & Riecke, 2023). Most of the studies investigating the somatosensory system still rely on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and averaged responses across several trials (Fossataro et al, 2023a; Hogendoorn et al, 2015; Macerollo et al, 2018; Pyasik et al, 2021; Ronga et al, 2021). Among the few studies that investigated neural responses to continuous tactile input, Chota and colleagues investigated the role of phase-locked β bursts following a vibrotactile artificial stimulation determined by the somatosensory system resonance properties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing neural tracking of naturalistic tactile stimulation, we estimated the sample size, allowing us to estimate reliable neural tracking as compared to noise. We focused our analysis on a central contralateral cluster of electrodes (Channel [22 25 26 27 28] for right-sided stimulation and channel [42 45 46 48 49] for left stimulation), in line with the extensive literature regarding somatosensory processing (Fossataro et al, 2023; Hogendoorn et al, 2015; Macerollo et al, 2018; Pyasik et al, 2021; Ronga et al, 2021); the frequency of interest [0.5-6 Hz] was defined after the inspection of a spectral power plot (see Figure 1); the time-window for the data simulation was [0.5-200 ms] which comprises the main somatosensory responses starting from the earliest component. We ran a power analysis simulating the main contrast of interest (neural activity measured in experimental conditions vs. control condition; see 2.2) by using a cluster-based permutation test and the data of 10 participants (Wang & Zhang, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…EEG is the most popular method to investigate neurophysiological correlates of tactile processing. The majority of studies employing this technique have been optimized for the computation of event-related potentials (ERPs), which require the recurrence of specific events a multitude of times (Fossataro et al, 2023; Galigani et al, 2021; Hogendoorn et al, 2015; Macerollo et al, 2018; Ronga et al, 2021; Ronga et al, 2021b). Following the average of electrical activity across repetitions, the emerging ERP estimates the brain response to the onset of discrete tactile events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…for the computation of event-related potentials (ERPs) which require the recurrence of specific events a multitude of times (Fossataro et al, 2023;Galigani et al, 2021;Hogendoorn et al, 2015;Macerollo et al, 2018;Ronga et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brain encoding of naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable tactile events

Castellani,

Federici,

Fantoni

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Studies employing EEG to measure somatosensory responses have been typically optimized to compute event-related potentials in response to discrete events (ERPs). However, tactile interactions involve continuous processing of non-stationary inputs that change in location, duration, and intensity. To fill this gap, this study aims to demonstrate the possibility of measuring the neural tracking of continuous and unpredictable tactile information. Twenty-seven young adults (females = 15) were continuously and passively stimulated with a random series of gentle brushes on single fingers of each hand, which were covered from view. Thus, tactile stimulations were unique for each participant, and fingers were stimulated. An encoding model measured the degree of synchronization between brain activity and continuous tactile input, generating a temporal response function (TRF). Brain topographies associated with the encoding of each finger stimulation showed a contralateral response at central sensors starting at 50 ms and peaking at about 140 ms of lag, followed by a bilateral response at about 240 ms. A series of analyses highlighted that reliable tactile TRF emerged after just 3 minutes of stimulation. Our results demonstrated for the first time the possibility of using EEG to measure the neural tracking of a naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable stimulation in the somatosensory domain. Crucially, this approach allows the study of brain activity following individualized, idiosyncratic tactile events. This approach can potentially foster novel ways for investigating tactile processing by replacing artificial laboratory-constrained tasks with ecological real-world interactions.Significant StatementThis study expanded the horizons of research conducted on neural tracking, opening the exploration of idiosyncratic tactile events occurring in the real world and overcoming constraints of laboratory tasks that typically rely on discrete events. We validated a protocol for the ecological investigations of continuous tactile processing of the hands. This paradigm-shifting study redefines the possible employment of the EEG for the cracking of somatosensory neural representations, which have been inaccessible so far. Our findings unravel coherent neural responses to continuous and naturalistic touch and represent a novel frontier in EEG applications to bodily senses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Brain encoding of naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable tactile events

Castellani,

Federici,

Fantoni

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…The scientific literature about EEG correlates of multisensory integration involves approaches [e.g., Global Field Power ( Noel et al, 2019 )], whole-scalp point-by-point analysis ( Fossataro et al, 2023 ), ERP super-additivity ( Ronga et al, 2021 ) that could be not perfectly suitable for the kind of data collected for the present study (i.e., correlates of very weak stimuli delivered slightly above or below the awareness threshold), as we better contextualized in the Supplementary Material (where we also provide ERP data obtained through more traditional approaches).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unconscious multisensory integration: behavioral and neural evidence from subliminal stimuli

Frumento,

Preatoni,

Chee

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThe prevailing theories of consciousness consider the integration of different sensory stimuli as a key component for this phenomenon to rise on the brain level. Despite many theories and models have been proposed for multisensory integration between supraliminal stimuli (e.g., the optimal integration model), we do not know if multisensory integration occurs also for subliminal stimuli and what psychophysical mechanisms it follows.MethodsTo investigate this, subjects were exposed to visual (Virtual Reality) and/or haptic stimuli (Electro-Cutaneous Stimulation) above or below their perceptual threshold. They had to discriminate, in a two-Alternative Forced Choice Task, the intensity of unimodal and/or bimodal stimuli. They were then asked to discriminate the sensory modality while recording their EEG responses.ResultsWe found evidence of multisensory integration for supraliminal condition, following the classical optimal model. Importantly, even for subliminal trials participant’s performances in the bimodal condition were significantly more accurate when discriminating the intensity of the stimulation. Moreover, significant differences emerged between unimodal and bimodal activity templates in parieto-temporal areas known for their integrative role.DiscussionThese converging evidences - even if preliminary and needing confirmation from the collection of further data - suggest that subliminal multimodal stimuli can be integrated, thus filling a meaningful gap in the debate about the relationship between consciousness and multisensory integration.

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Brain Encoding of Naturalistic, Continuous, and Unpredictable Tactile Events

Castellani,

Federici,

Fantoni

et al. 2024

eNeuro

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Studies employing EEG to measure somatosensory responses have been typically optimized to compute event-related potentials in response to discrete events (ERPs). However, tactile interactions involve continuous processing of non-stationary inputs that change in location, duration, and intensity. To fill this gap, this study aims to demonstrate the possibility of measuring the neural tracking of continuous and unpredictable tactile information. Twenty-seven young adults (females = 15) were continuously and passively stimulated with a random series of gentle brushes on single fingers of each hand, which were covered from view. Thus, tactile stimulations were unique for each participant, and stimulated fingers. An encoding model measured the degree of synchronization between brain activity and continuous tactile input, generating a temporal response function (TRF). Brain topographies associated with the encoding of each finger stimulation showed a contralateral response at central sensors starting at 50 ms and peaking at about 140 ms of lag, followed by a bilateral response at about 240 ms. A series of analyses highlighted that reliable tactile TRF emerged after just 3 minutes of stimulation. Strikingly, topographical patterns of the TRF allowed discriminating digit lateralization across hands and digit representation within each hand. Our results demonstrated for the first time the possibility of using EEG to measure the neural tracking of a naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable stimulation in the somatosensory domain. Crucially, this approach allows the study of brain activity following individualized, idiosyncratic tactile events to the fingers.Significant StatementThis study expands the current research conducted on neural tracking, opening the exploration of idiosyncratic tactile events and overcoming constraints of laboratory tasks that typically rely on discrete events. We validated a protocol for the ecological investigations of continuous, slow, tactile processing of the hands. The employed approach enriches the possible use of the EEG to characterize somatosensory neural representations of tactile events. Findings unravel coherent neural responses to continuous and naturalistic touch, with sensitivity for digit lateralization and representation.

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Spatial proximity to others induces plastic changes in the neural representation of the peripersonal space

Cited by 4 publications

References 102 publications

Brain encoding of naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable tactile events

Brain encoding of naturalistic, continuous, and unpredictable tactile events

Unconscious multisensory integration: behavioral and neural evidence from subliminal stimuli

Brain Encoding of Naturalistic, Continuous, and Unpredictable Tactile Events

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