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. 2012 Jul;16(4):406-19.
doi: 10.1177/1362361311430404. Epub 2012 Mar 7.

The rubber hand illusion in children with autism spectrum disorders: delayed influence of combined tactile and visual input on proprioception

Carissa J Cascio  1 , Jennifer H Foss-Feig, Courtney P Burnette, Jessica L Heacock, Akua A Cosby
Affiliations

The rubber hand illusion in children with autism spectrum disorders: delayed influence of combined tactile and visual input on proprioception

Carissa J Cascio et al. Autism. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

In the rubber hand illusion, perceived hand ownership can be transferred to a rubber hand after synchronous visual and tactile stimulation. Perceived body ownership and self-other relation are foundational for development of self-awareness, imitation, and empathy, which are all affected in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We examined the rubber hand illusion in children with and without ASD. Children with ASD were initially less susceptible to the illusion than the comparison group, yet showed the effects of the illusion after 6 minutes. Delayed susceptibility to the illusion may result from atypical multisensory temporal integration and/or an unusually strong reliance on proprioception. Children with ASD who displayed less empathy were significantly less likely to experience the illusion than those with more intact ability to express empathy. A better understanding of body representation in ASD may elucidate neural underpinnings of social deficits, thus informing future intervention approaches.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental setup for the rubber hand illusion. (A) The experimenter (right, front) brushes the same somatic location on the participant’s real hand and the rubber hand, while the participant attends visually to the rubber hand, and tactually to their own hand, for two blocks of 3 minutes each. (B) Before and after each brushing block, the participant makes three judgments about the location of his obscured hand, using the straight edge, with their eyes closed. The difference between the average pre- and post-brushing judgments is used as the outcome variable: proprioceptive drift in the direction of the rubber hand.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean proprioceptive drift in the direction of the rubber hand in the (A) ASD and (B) TD group following each 3-minute block of brushing.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relation between total proprioceptive drift following 6 minutes of synchronous brushing and impairment in empathy, as measured by the ADOS, in participants with ASD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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