Have you ever felt a force field around your body?
Our brains are aware not just of our bodies but also the immediate space around us. Now, a twist on the classic rubber hand illusion can make people “feel” this space – a sensation they liken to perceiving a Force Field.
Neuroscientists have known for decades that our brains contain representations of the area surrounding us, known as peripersonal space. This allows us to grasp objects within our reach and helps to protect us.
Imagine you are walking through the woods talking to a companion, when a low-hanging branch suddenly appears in your peripheral vision. You’ll instinctively duck to avoid it: your sense of peripersonal space has prevented you from banging your head.
Hard neuroscientific evidence on the phenomenon appeared in the late 1990s in animal studies. Michael Graziano of Princeton University, New Jersey, and his colleagues recorded the electrical activity of neurons in the parietal and frontal lobes of the brains of monkeys, finding that some neurons fired not only when an object touched part of the body, but also when the object came near it.
Recommended: What Is Aura
When the researchers directly stimulated such neurons, they found that the monkeys would reflexively move their heads and limbs as if defending themselves – for example, grimacing and closing their eyes, turning their heads to one side and putting up their arms in a protective posture.
Although no one has repeated the experiments in humans, there is evidence that certain regions of our brain specifically deal with peripersonal space.
For instance, some people who suffer strokes in the right posterior parietal lobe cannot sense peripersonal stimuli on the left side of their bodies, but can sense things that are further away, outside the peripersonal space on that side.
Sensory Trick
At least, that’s the theory. Now, Guterstam and his colleagues have tricked humans into actually feeling our peripersonal space.
To do so, they turned to the well-known rubber hand illusion. In the standard form of this illusion, the experimenter uses a paintbrush to stroke a volunteer’s hand (which is hidden from view) and an adjacent, visible rubber hand.
The stroking is done simultaneously at the same speed and place on both the real and rubber hand. Within minutes, most people report feeling the touch of the brushstrokes on the rubber hand as if it belonged to them.
Researchers noticed that the illusion didn’t work if the rubber hand was too far away from the real hand.
In the new study, which involved 101 adults, the researchers made one important change to the experiment. They never brushed the rubber hand directly. Instead, they moved the brush above the rubber hand, again at the same time as brushstrokes that touched the real hand.
Recommended: 5 Easy Steps to Start Seeing The Aura
This meant the volunteer felt touch on their real hand but watched the brush move in mid-air, say, about 10 centimetres above the rubber hand.
Most volunteers reported feeling a Magnetic Force or Force Field between the paintbrush and the rubber hand below – as if the brush was encountering an invisible barrier.“We can elicit this bizarre sensation of there actually being something in mid-air between the brush and the rubber hand,” says Guterstam. The volunteers also felt a sense of ownership of the rubber hand.
The team found that the illusion disappears when the brushstrokes are more than about 30-40 centimetres above the rubber hand. This distance seems to be the limit of the peripersonal space of any given body part.
Recommended: The Seven Layers Of The Aura
The illusion of the Force Field also disappears if there is an opaque metal barrier between the rubber hand and the brush. Because the barrier makes it impossible for the hand to reach up and grasp anything, or for anything to hit the hand, the space above is now not peripersonal space, Guterstam speculates.
“This is a wonderful study,” says Graziano. “For decades, the neuroscience of the parietal and frontal lobes has filled in our knowledge of the special margin of safety, or buffer zone, around the body. Now we have a clever way to get at the phenomenon through an illusion that is easy to implement in the lab.”
The fun part about this experiment is that you can do it at home. Try it out and let us know that you think about it in the comments below.
Originally written by Anil Ananthaswamy and published on New Scientist
Wonderful work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
블랙 맘바
그 이름에 이끌려 이곳을 찾는 학자, 인신매매업자, 상인, 농부들이 점점 더 많아지고 있습니다.
You’ve got a way with words that’s as enchanting as a full moon. I’m bewitched.
The writing has the warmth and familiarity of a favorite sweater, providing comfort and insight in equal measure.
I am glad to be one of several visitors on this great site (:, appreciate it for putting up.
This post has been incredibly helpful to me. The guidance is something I’m truly grateful for.
The passion is infectious, or maybe that’s just my enthusiasm trying to match Thes. Inspiring, nonetheless!
I have been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours these days, yet I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It?¦s beautiful worth enough for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content material as you did, the internet can be much more helpful than ever before.
I really like your writing style, superb info , appreciate it for putting up : D.
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one¦s website, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
온라인 슬롯 게임 추천
대저택의 문을 나서자 마차와 말이 준비되어 있었는데 왕서인이 뜻밖에 찾아왔다.
you are really a good webmaster. The web site loading speed is incredible. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you have done a magnificent job on this topic!
슬롯 커뮤
Zhu Zaimo는 무릎을 꿇고 젓가락과 숟가락으로 먹기 시작했습니다.
I¦ll immediately snatch your rss as I can’t in finding your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me understand so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
카이센 윈즈
Hongzhi 황제는 외부 사람들이 말하는 것을 알지 못했습니다.
슬롯 모아 무료
따라서 이 많은 보물 돈이 아무렇게나 갑판에 흩어져 있었다.
I like this website very much, Its a rattling nice berth to read and obtain information.
I’m still learning from you, as I’m improving myself. I absolutely liked reading all that is written on your blog.Keep the information coming. I enjoyed it!
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our entire community will be thankful to you.
An impressive share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing a little bit analysis on this. And he in reality bought me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I really feel strongly about it and love studying more on this topic. If possible, as you grow to be expertise, would you mind updating your weblog with extra details? It’s extremely helpful for me. Large thumb up for this blog submit!
Hey, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boringK I miss your super writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
Impressive creativity!CapCut Pro Mod Apk 12.1.0 [Premium Unlocked] Download & CapCut Pro Premium Unlocked
레프리칸 리치스
Fang Jifan이 경례하기 전에 Hongzhi 황제는 탑을 가리키며 “그게 뭐야?”
As I website owner I think the subject matter here is really excellent, thanks for your efforts.
I do agree with all of the ideas you have presented in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are too short for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.
My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on numerous websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
피망 슬롯 머신
그는 사라지는 함대가 실제로 명나라에 의해 파괴될 것이라고는 예상하지 못했습니다.
I must express some thanks to this writer just for bailing me out of this particular situation. As a result of browsing throughout the the net and getting opinions that were not beneficial, I believed my entire life was done. Living devoid of the approaches to the issues you have solved all through this guide is a serious case, and ones which might have badly affected my career if I hadn’t come across your web site. Your own personal understanding and kindness in handling every aspect was important. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had not discovered such a step like this. I can now look ahead to my future. Thanks very much for your skilled and results-oriented guide. I won’t hesitate to propose your web blog to any person who ought to have direction about this subject matter.
you are in reality a excellent webmaster. The web site loading pace is incredible. It sort of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick. Moreover, The contents are masterwork. you’ve done a excellent process on this matter!
I just like the helpful info you provide for your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more here frequently. I am reasonably certain I will be told plenty of new stuff proper here! Good luck for the next!