BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Vestibular input is projected to "multisensory (vestibular) cortex" where it converges with input from other sensory modalities. It has been assumed that this multisensory integration enables a continuous perception of state and presence of one's own body. The present study thus asked whether or not vestibular stimulation may impact this perception. METHODS We used an immersive virtual reality setup to realistically manipulate the length of extremities of first person biometric avatars. Twenty-two healthy participants had to adjust arms and legs to their correct length from various start lengths before, during, and after vestibular stimulation. RESULTS Neither unilateral caloric nor galvanic vestibular stimulation had a modulating effect on the perceived size of own extremities. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that vestibular stimulation does not directly influence the explicit somatosensory representation of our body. It is possible that in non-brain-damaged, healthy subjects, changes in whole body size perception are principally not mediated by vestibular information. Alternatively, visual feedback and/or memory may dominate multisensory integration and thereby override possibly existing modulations of body perception by vestibular stimulation. The present observations suggest that multisensory integration and not the processing of a single sensory input is the crucial mechanism in generating our body representation in relation to the external world.

中文翻译：

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在虚拟现实中使用生物特征自化身在前庭刺激下对自己身体的视觉感知。

背景和目的前庭输入被投影到“多感觉（前庭）皮层”，在这里它与来自其他感觉模态的输入会聚。已经假设这种多感官整合使得能够连续感知状态和自身身体的存在。因此，本研究询问前庭刺激是否会影响这种感觉。方法我们使用了沉浸式虚拟现实设置，以逼真的方式操纵第一人称生物特征化身的四肢长度。22名健康参与者必须在前庭刺激之前，期间和之后从各种开始长度将手臂和腿部调整到正确的长度。结果单方面的热量或电流的前庭刺激均未对感知到的肢体大小产生调节作用。结论我们的结果表明前庭刺激并不直接影响人体的显式体感表征。在没有脑损伤的健康受试者中，全身大小感知的变化可能主要不是由前庭信息介导的。备选地，视觉反馈和/或记忆可支配多感官整合，从而通过前庭刺激覆盖可能存在的身体知觉调节。目前的观察结果表明，多感官整合而不是单个感官输入的处理是产生我们与外部世界有关的身体表征的关键机制。全身大小感知的变化主要不是由前庭信息介导的。备选地，视觉反馈和/或记忆可支配多感官整合，从而通过前庭刺激覆盖可能存在的身体知觉调节。目前的观察结果表明，多感官整合而不是单个感官输入的处理是产生我们与外部世界有关的身体表征的关键机制。全身大小感知的变化主要不是由前庭信息介导的。备选地，视觉反馈和/或记忆可支配多感官整合，从而通过前庭刺激覆盖可能存在的身体知觉调节。目前的观察结果表明，多感官整合而不是单个感官输入的处理是生成我们与外界相关的身体表征的关键机制。