Common and distinct brain networks of autoscopic phenomena.
NeuroImage. Clinical January 1, 2021 Eva Blondiaux, Lukas Heydrich, Olaf Blanke 33 citations
Autoscopic phenomena—the illusion of seeing a second own body in external space—take three forms: autoscopic hallucination, heautoscopy, and out-of-body experience. Using lesion network mapping in 26 neurological patients, all three forms localized to a common brain network centered on the bilateral temporo-parietal junction. Each type also showed distinct functional connectivity patterns: out-of-body experiences connected to the angular gyrus, precuneus, and inferior frontal gyrus; autoscopic hallucinations to the precuneus, inferior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum; heautoscopy to the left inferior frontal gyrus, insula, and parahippocampus. The temporo-parietal junction is the core region for all autoscopic phenomena, with each form recruiting additional sensorimotor and self-related subnetworks.