Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Swiss Federal institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland.
CORE Lab, Psychosomatic Competence Center, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Neuroimage Clin. 2021;30:102612. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102612. Epub 2021 Mar 4.
Autoscopic phenomena (AP) are illusory own body reduplications characterized by the visual perception of a second own body in extrapersonal space, and include three main forms: autoscopic hallucination (AH), heautoscopy (HAS) and out-of-body-experience (OBE). Past research showed that lesions were heterogeneously distributed and affected many different brain regions within and across patients, while small case series suggested that AP lesions converge in temporo-parietal and parieto-occipital cortex. As only few studies investigated each form of AP separately, it remains unknown whether the three AP are characterized by common and distinct brain mechanisms.
Here, we applied lesion network analysis in 26 neurological AP patients and determined their common and distinct functional connectivity patterns.
We report that all localize to a single common brain network at the bilateral temporo-parietal junction, further associated with specific patterns of functional connectivity, defining each type of AP. OBE resulted from a brain network connected to bilateral angular gyrus, right precuneus, and right inferior frontal gyrus, differing from AH with a brain network connected to bilateral precuneus, inferior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum. HAS resulted from a brain network connected to left inferior frontal gyrus, left insula and left parahippocampus.
The present data identify the temporo-parietal junction as the common core region for AP and show that each form of AP recruits additional specific networks, associated with different sensorimotor and self-related sub-networks.
自动症现象(AP)是虚幻的自身身体复制,其特征是在体外空间中视觉感知到第二个自身身体,并包括三种主要形式:自动幻觉(AH)、自身视(HAS)和离体体验(OBE)。过去的研究表明,病变呈异质性分布,影响了患者内和跨患者的许多不同的大脑区域,而小病例系列表明 AP 病变集中在颞顶和顶枕皮层。由于只有少数研究分别研究了 AP 的每种形式,因此尚不清楚这三种 AP 是否具有共同和独特的大脑机制。
在这里,我们在 26 名神经病学 AP 患者中应用了病变网络分析,并确定了它们的共同和独特的功能连接模式。
我们报告说,所有病变都位于双侧颞顶交界处的单个共同大脑网络中,进一步与每个 AP 类型的特定功能连接模式相关联。OBE 源自与双侧角回、右侧顶叶后扣带回和右侧额下回相连的大脑网络,与与双侧顶叶后扣带回、下颞叶和小脑相连的 AH 不同。HAS 源自与左侧额下回、左侧脑岛和左侧海马旁回相连的大脑网络。
目前的数据确定了颞顶交界区是 AP 的共同核心区域,并表明 AP 的每种形式都募集了额外的特定网络,与不同的感觉运动和自我相关的子网相关。