Neural modulation of felt and seen touch on one’s own face: a fMRI study

The perception of tactile stimuli on the face is enhanced if subjects concurrently observe a face being touched; this effect, called visual remapping of touch, is maximum for observing one’s own face. In the present fMRI study, we investigated the neural basis of this effect. Participants in the scanner received tactile stimuli, near the perceptual threshold, either on their right, left or both cheeks. Concurrently they watched movies depicting their own face, another person’s face or a ball that could be touched or only approached by human fingers. Participants were requested to distinguish between unilateral and bilateral tactile stimulation. Tactile perception was enhanced when viewing one’s own face being touched. This effect was related with a reduced activity, bilaterally, in both the ventral premotor cortex and the somatosensory cortex. Ventral premotor cortex might underlie the self-related enhancement of visual remapping of touch. This area is part of a fronto-parietal network subserving the representation of the Embodied Self by integrating multisensory information related to the body. The neural modulation of ventral premotor cortex is then reflected to the somatosensory areas, thus affecting tactile perception.