Chloe Allen
Research Mentor: Greg Gage
Mentor Department: Backyard Brains, Engineering
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 1 (9:00 AM – 9:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 16
Abstract
There is an illusion, where a subject has a fake limb, like an arm, placed in front of them. Their real limb is placed behind a wall, or somewhere out of their sight. The real limb, and fake limb are simultaneously brushed, with the same pressure and motion, to the point where the subject perceives the fake limb as their own. This is sometimes, and in our case, referred to as the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI). Our goal is to understand the physiological effects of this illusion. To do this, we will be testing temperatures of the hand that the brain is no longer perceiving. We hypothesize that there will be a decrease in the temperature. If the brain no longer perceives the hand as part of the body, then there will be less blood flow to that area, leading to a decrease in temperature. We will also be testing the temperature of the other limbs that are still being perceived by the brain, to compare the results. If our hypothesis is correct, then this would be considerable evidence for the body schema made up by the brain.
