NEW
Age-dependent changes in tactile body memories
Human tactile memory allows us to remember and retrieve the multitude of bodily experiences we perceive in everyday life. An unsolved question is how tactile memory mechanisms change with increasing age. We used the ability to remember fine-grained tactile patterns passively presented to the fingertip to investigate age-related changes in tactile memory performance. Our data reveal that older adults show only weak impairments in both precision and bias of tactile memories compared to younger adults, however, they show specific deficits in reaching peak performance > 85%. In addition, interestingly, both younger and older adults show a pattern completion bias for touch, indicating a higher weighting of known compared to new information. This could explain why it is difficult to "overwrite" negative bodily/haptic experiences. These results allow us to develop new models on how younger and older adults store and recall tactile experiences of the past, and how this influences their everyday behavior. Read the full article here
Age-dependent changes in tactile body memories
Human tactile memory allows us to remember and retrieve the multitude of bodily experiences we perceive in everyday life. An unsolved question is how tactile memory mechanisms change with increasing age. We used the ability to remember fine-grained tactile patterns passively presented to the fingertip to investigate age-related changes in tactile memory performance. Our data reveal that older adults show only weak impairments in both precision and bias of tactile memories compared to younger adults, however, they show specific deficits in reaching peak performance > 85%. In addition, interestingly, both younger and older adults show a pattern completion bias for touch, indicating a higher weighting of known compared to new information. This could explain why it is difficult to "overwrite" negative bodily/haptic experiences. These results allow us to develop new models on how younger and older adults store and recall tactile experiences of the past, and how this influences their everyday behavior. Read the full article here
RESEARCH
Meta-analysis on the Neuronal Networks that underly Offline Representations of Touch
Offline representations of touch influence our mental state and behavior. The neuronal networks that subserve the emergence of offline representations of touch are, however, less clear. We conducted a meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) approach based on clusters revealed by activation likelihood estimation (ALE) combined with resting-state analysis to identify the neuronal networks that reliably evoke offline representations of touch triggered by touch observation. ALE analysis revealed 8 clusters in frontal, temporal, and parietal brain areas, which behavioral domain profiles predominantly refer to cognition and perception. The MACM analysis further identified distinct networks that are subserved by subcortical structures, and revealed that all clusters are connected to dorso-medial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex control regions. Medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory structures, however, do not inform network activation during touch observation (confirmed by post hoc resting-state connectivity analyses). This indicates that offline representations of touch that are triggered by touch observation may be distinct from those that are triggered by memory. Read the full article here
Meta-analysis on the Neuronal Networks that underly Offline Representations of Touch
Offline representations of touch influence our mental state and behavior. The neuronal networks that subserve the emergence of offline representations of touch are, however, less clear. We conducted a meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) approach based on clusters revealed by activation likelihood estimation (ALE) combined with resting-state analysis to identify the neuronal networks that reliably evoke offline representations of touch triggered by touch observation. ALE analysis revealed 8 clusters in frontal, temporal, and parietal brain areas, which behavioral domain profiles predominantly refer to cognition and perception. The MACM analysis further identified distinct networks that are subserved by subcortical structures, and revealed that all clusters are connected to dorso-medial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex control regions. Medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory structures, however, do not inform network activation during touch observation (confirmed by post hoc resting-state connectivity analyses). This indicates that offline representations of touch that are triggered by touch observation may be distinct from those that are triggered by memory. Read the full article here
RESEARCH
Use Autosuggestion to Modify Your Sensations
Autosuggestion can be defined as the inner reiteration of an idea with the goal to actively influence one’s own perception (read the full review article). We tested the modulatory effect of autosuggestion on tactile perception by taking advantage of the known link between intensity and frequency perception in touch (‘Békésy effect’). Across 3 experiments, N = 77 participants were asked to modulate the perceived intensity of tactile stimuli at their fingertip (either towards stronger or weaker perception) through autosuggestion while reporting the perceived frequency. We provide the first experimental demonstration that autosuggestion can alter participants' tactile perception using a response orthogonal to the suggested variable. This emphasizes the importance of one's own will on sensory perception. Read the full article here
Use Autosuggestion to Modify Your Sensations
Autosuggestion can be defined as the inner reiteration of an idea with the goal to actively influence one’s own perception (read the full review article). We tested the modulatory effect of autosuggestion on tactile perception by taking advantage of the known link between intensity and frequency perception in touch (‘Békésy effect’). Across 3 experiments, N = 77 participants were asked to modulate the perceived intensity of tactile stimuli at their fingertip (either towards stronger or weaker perception) through autosuggestion while reporting the perceived frequency. We provide the first experimental demonstration that autosuggestion can alter participants' tactile perception using a response orthogonal to the suggested variable. This emphasizes the importance of one's own will on sensory perception. Read the full article here
OPINION
How Body Memories influence your Mental Health
Body memories can be defined as the sum of all bodily experiences that are stored in memory and influence behavior. We identify mechanisms that give rise to Clinical Body Memories (CBMs) that influence chronic pain, trauma or dissociative disorders. We explain why the investigation of the neuronal mechanisms that underlie the storage and retrieval of body memories provides us with empirical access to reduce the negative impact of body memories on mental health. Read the full Opinion article here
How Body Memories influence your Mental Health
Body memories can be defined as the sum of all bodily experiences that are stored in memory and influence behavior. We identify mechanisms that give rise to Clinical Body Memories (CBMs) that influence chronic pain, trauma or dissociative disorders. We explain why the investigation of the neuronal mechanisms that underlie the storage and retrieval of body memories provides us with empirical access to reduce the negative impact of body memories on mental health. Read the full Opinion article here
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ONGOING
ERC Starting Grant Body Memory In 2020, I received an ERC Starting Grant on "Body Memory" to investigate the neuronal basis of body memories, their clinical manifestations, and potential ways of alteration. This exciting research line combines basic research, applied research and application by combining functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral assessments, full-body, advanced VR technology and clinical investigations to understand how past bodily experiences influence mental health. Read more about the research. 
KEY-FINDING
Non-afferent Topographic Maps in Area 3b The human primary somatosensory cortex area 3b has long been believed to code self-perceived (afferent) touch only. We show using 7 Tesla fMRI that feeling touch on the hand and observing touch at another person's hand activates similar fine-grained topographic maps in area 3b. This has implications for the role of area 3b in encoding non-afferent tactile events, such as imagined or memorized tactile and bodily events. Read the full articles : [link] [link] RESEARCH
Impaired Remapping of Social Relationships in Older Adults Social relationships are a central aspect of our everyday life and are critical to maintain mental health. Yet, our ability to adapt to changes in social relationships is an under-investigated topic. In this article, we combine virtual reality (VR) with a social interaction paradigm and show that younger adults alter their behavioral pattern when an avatar changes its behavior (in the domains "power" and "affiliation"), whereas older adults show a reduction in such a "remapping" of social space. Our data provide first evidence that older adults have impaired abilities to "remap" the social space, similar to their impairments in remapping spatial environments during spatial navigation. Read the full article: [link] REVIEW
How Visual Body Perception influences Somatosensory Plasticity Vision influences tactile processing. We here provide an overview about how viewing the body influences plasticity mechanisms in the human somatosensory cortex. This review offers a contribution to understanding the complex interactions between social perception and somatosensory learning by focusing on the exciting research fiel of socially-mediated sensory plasticity. Read the full article: [link] |
+++ IN THE NEWS +++ "Die Kraft in uns" Interview on Body Memory in "Freundin" makes the Cover Story of the issue (Ausgabe 10/2024) read here
Popular Science Talk on Body Memory in Nürnberg more info
In Touch mit unseren Gefühlen - Körperpsychotherapie (listen to Podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcast, deezer) 
Blog: Wie sich dein Körper erinnert
MADAME: Der Körper vergisst nichts Deutschlandfunk Nova: Körpergedächtnis - Negative Gefühle mit positiven bekämpfen Deutschlandfunk Nova: Wie wir weniger grübeln Volksstimme: Wie Körper und Geist zusammen hängen In-Mind: Ohnmacht - über das Gefühl, das Leben nicht im Griff zu haben In-Mind: Das Gehirn kann nicht abschalten - Was tun? In-Mind: Posteingang(10.098) - Lesen Sie die Signale, die Ihr Körper Ihnen sendet? |
