Short-term Effects of the ‘Rubber Hand’ Illusion on Aspects of Visual Neglect

Abstract

The ‘rubber hand’ illusion was induced in a patient showing unilateral visual neglect, with the patient experiencing a shift in the felt position of his right hand towards a contralesional rubber hand. Immediately following the illusion, there were short-lasting reductions in neglect for bisecting about the midline and for cancelling multiple stimuli. No effects were found on the ability to encode briefly presented visual stimuli on the contralesional side. The data demonstrate that the illusion can temporarily alter some aspects of neglect, without altering basic visual encoding. The underlying mechanisms, and the relations to other rehabilitation procedures, are discussed.

Keywords:

• The rubber hand illusion
• visual neglect
• visual extinction
• body schema
• visuotactile interaction

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the MRC and the Stroke Association (UK).

Notes

¹Indeed, the bisection task may conceivably been done by MP judging where the centre of his body was, since this was always coincident with the centre of the line.