Spatial tuning of electrophysiological responses to multisensory stimuli reveals a primitive coding of the body boundaries in newborns.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_BCAA8AA0FB8C
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Spatial tuning of electrophysiological responses to multisensory stimuli reveals a primitive coding of the body boundaries in newborns.
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Author(s)
Ronga I., Galigani M., Bruno V., Noel J.P., Gazzin A., Perathoner C., Serino A., Garbarini F.
ISSN
1091-6490 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0027-8424
Publication state
Published
Issued date
23/03/2021
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
118
Number
12
Pages
e2024548118
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
The ability to identify our own body and its boundaries is crucial for survival. Ideally, the sooner we learn to discriminate external stimuli occurring close to our body from those occurring far from it, the better (and safer) we may interact with the sensory environment. However, when this mechanism emerges within ontogeny is unknown. Is it something acquired throughout infancy, or is it already present soon after birth? The presence of a spatial modulation of multisensory integration (MSI) is considered a hallmark of a functioning representation of the body position in space. Here, we investigated whether MSI is present and spatially organized in 18- to 92-h-old newborns. We compared electrophysiological responses to tactile stimulation when concurrent auditory events were delivered close to, as opposed to far from, the body in healthy newborns and in a control group of adult participants. In accordance with previous studies, adult controls showed a clear spatial modulation of MSI, with greater superadditive responses for multisensory stimuli close to the body. In newborns, we demonstrated the presence of a genuine electrophysiological pattern of MSI, with older newborns showing a larger MSI effect. Importantly, as for adults, multisensory superadditive responses were modulated by the proximity to the body. This finding may represent the electrophysiological mechanism responsible for a primitive coding of bodily self boundaries, thus suggesting that even just a few hours after birth, human newborns identify their own body as a distinct entity from the environment.
Keywords
Brain/physiology, Electroencephalography, Electrophysiological Phenomena, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Learning, Physical Stimulation, Reaction Time, Space Perception/physiology, ERP, body representation, multisensory integration, newborns, peripersonal space
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
16/04/2021 18:03
Last modification date
19/12/2023 8:14
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