Differential Involvement of Somatosensory and Interoceptive Cortices during the Observation of Affective Touch

■ Previous studies suggested that the observation of other individualsʼ somatosensory experiences also activates brain circuits processing oneʼs own somatosensory experiences. However, it is unclear whether cortical regions involved with the elementary stages of touch processing are also involved in the automatic coding of the affective consequences of observed touch and to which extent they show overlapping activation for somatosensory experiences of self and others. In order to investigate these issues, in the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, healthy participants either experienced touch or watched videos depicting other individualsʼ inanimate and animate/social touch experiences. Essentially, a distinction can be made between exteroceptive and interoceptive components of touch processing, involved with physical stimulus characteristics and internal feeling states, respectively. Consistent with this distinction, a specific negative modulation was found in th...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: JOCN
• Authors: Sjoerd J. H. Ebisch, Francesca Ferri, Anatolia Salone, Mauro Gianni Perrucci, Luigi D'Amico, Filippo Maria Ferro, Gian Luca Romani, Vittorio Gallese
• Keywords: Functional Magnetic Resonance, JOCN 2011, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Physical Stimulus