Examination of Brain Regions and EEG associated with Changes in Sense of Agency

Abstract

Sense of Agency (SoA) is the sense of being the subject of one’s own motion. When a person is frustrated by a slow response to a certain operation on a smartphone, for example, SoA is low. Patients who have lost a limb due to an accident often suffer from phantom limb pain even after the recovery from the injury, because they do not receive sensory feedback from the lost limb. This study investigates the brain activities related to SoA improvement. We conducted an experiment in which healthy subjects traced a figure on a screen with a mouse. The results showed a decrease in delta and theta waves with improvement in SoA. These changes were confirmed in the frontal lobe area, suggesting that delta and theta waves are related to the perception of SoA.