Functional connectivity analysis of brain hemodynamics concerning embodied cognition

Abstract

To understand the brain mechanism of embodied cognition, rubber hand illusion (RHI) has been widely studied. Through these previous works, neural activities in specific brain regions such as premotor, primary motor areas and intraparietal sulcus related to the embodied cognition has been identified, however dynamical relationship among them has not been well understood. In this study, we investigated the characteristic of functional connectivity among those brain areas under RHI by using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). We recognized functional connectivity using Granger causality on activating brain areas. Moreover, the result suggests that the direction of exchanging visuo-tactile information among brain areas changes according to feeling the illusion. Functional connectivity would reflect embodied cognition.