Parietal alpha frequency shapes own-body perception by modulating the temporal integration of bodily signals

Abstract

An influential proposal in the field of cognitive neuroscience suggests that alpha-frequency brain oscillations constrain the temporal sampling of external sensory signals, shaping the temporal binding window (TBW)--the interval during which sensory signals are integrated. However, whether alpha frequency modulates the integration of self-related sensory signals and the perception of the body as ones own (body ownership) remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that individual alpha frequency (IAF) from the parietal cortex predicted TBWs and perceptual sensitivities in body ownership and visuotactile simultaneity judgment tasks, with faster frequencies narrowing TBWs and increasing sensitivities, and vice versa. Modulating IAF through brain stimulation altered TBWs and sensitivities, establishing a causal relationship. Computational modeling linked IAF to uncertainty in asynchrony information within the causal inference process, providing a mechanism. These findings demonstrate that parietal alpha frequency shapes the sense of body ownership by modulating the temporal integration of bodily sensory signals.