PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Makoto Wada
AU  - Kouji Takano
AU  - Hiroki Ora
AU  - Masakazu Ide
AU  - Kenji Kansaku
TI  - The Rubber Tail Illusion as Evidence of Body Ownership in Mice
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3006-15.2016
DP  - 2016 Oct 26
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 11133--11137
VI  - 36
IP  - 43
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/43/11133.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/43/11133.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2016 Oct 26; 36
AB  - The ownership of one's body parts represents a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness. Accumulating empirical evidence supports the existence of this concept in humans and nonhuman primates, but it is unclear whether nonprimate mammals experience similar feelings. Therefore, the present study used rubber tails to investigate body ownership in rodents. When the real tails and rubber tails were synchronously stroked, the mice responded as if their own tails were touched when the rubber tails were grasped. In contrast, when the stimuli were delivered asynchronously, there was a significantly lower mean response rate when the rubber tail was grasped. These findings suggest that mice may experience body ownership of their tails, suggestive of the rubber hand illusion in humans.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To explore the manner in which the ownership of body parts is experienced, this study specifically used the rubber hand illusion (RHI), in which self-consciousness can be extended out of one's own body. Accumulating empirical evidence supports the existence of this concept in humans and nonhuman primates, but it remains unclear whether nonprimate mammals experience similar feelings. This study demonstrated for the first time that mice may experience body ownership of their tails, which is suggestive of the RHI in humans and provides evidence that may highlight how humans experience the ownership of body parts.