Basic brain function in healthy humans Body Awareness Self-consciousness
Conditions
Interventions
The intervention consists of an transmagnetic stimulation protocol (TMS).
Participants will receive 600 pulses of continuous theta burst stimulation
(duration: 40 seconds) on the right temporopariet
Sponsors
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Eligibility
Age
18 Years to 99 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: In order to be eligible to participate in this study, a subject must meet all of the following criteria: 1) Participants must be 18 years or older 2) Participants must be female 3) Participants must be right-handed 4) Participants must be capable of giving consent 5) Participants must be able to communicate in English
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: A potential subject who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:;1) A current diagnosis of a neurological disorder, i.e. epilepsy 2) A current diagnosis of psychiatric disorder 3) Presence of metallic devices, e.g. metal implants, non-removable piercings, or cardiac pacemaker 4) Psychotropic medication intake in the last 6 months 5) Claustrophobia 6) Alcohol or drug abuse 7) Refusal that general practitioner will be informed in the case of incidental findings of structural brain abnormalities 8) Use of medication related with increased epileptic seizure risk 9) Current tinnitus 10) (At risk of being) pregnant
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| For the first objective, changes in brain activation and functional connectivity will be measured before and after a single session of reptitive trancranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ). The main study parameter will be changes resting-state fMRI measured in the BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) signal prior to and after repetitive TMS. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| For the second objective concerning the out-of-body illusion, the main study parameters are 1) The self report questionnaires assessing global self attribution of the virtual body, anomalous body experiences, and depersonalization experiences; 2) The global self-localization assessed by a documented felt shift of self-location measured in centimetres in a drawn map of the room. 3) Changes in the heart rate after the threat condition during the behavioural paradigm. Former studies have shown that participants depict elevated skin conductance response when the virtual body is artificially attacked with a hammer. Relatedly, we want to use a threat to the illusory body affects the participants physiology (heart rate) as objective marker to test the illusory body. Additionally, it will be investigated if certain trait characteristic influence functional connectivity and possibly increase susceptibility to the out-of-body illusion. As such, hallucinatory proneness, alexithymia, depersonalization, and dissociation will be assessed via validated self-report questionnaires. Furthermore, former life events and traumatic experiences will investigated. To control for possible confounding effects, participants will be asked if they have ever suffered from vestibular dysfunctions and out-of-body experiences. | — |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed