The self in motion: The advantage for one’s own movements at an implicit but not explicit level

Abstract

This study investigated the possible dissociation between implicit and explicit self-motion recognition. Converging evidence suggests that the distinction between self and other in the corporeal domain might rely on the integration of visual and sensorimotor representations of the body. Notably, previous studies have demonstrated that individuals are faster and more accurate in discriminating pictures depicting their own body effectors compared to those of others, the so-called self-advantage effect. Such facilitation has been found when participants had to recognize the bodily self in implicit but not explicit tasks. We hypothesized a similar advantage for implicit discrimination of one’s own body movements relative to those of others, due to underlying sensorimotor mechanisms. Participants were presented with pairs of schematic movements (i.e., motion patterns of one’s own skeleton and those of other bodies). In the Implicit task, they judged whether the movements were the same or different. In the Explicit task, they judged whether there was or not their own movement. Results showed facilitation in terms of accuracy and response time with movements belonging to the self than to other people in the Implicit task, indicating a self-advantage effect. Such a facilitation did not emerge in the Explicit task. Overall, the present findings disclose the contribution of motor information in self-awareness and body representation, supporting the role of sensorimotor mechanisms in implicit recognition of bodily self.