Konstantina Kilteni, Ph.D. | Somatosensory processing during action

The brain forms predictions about the sensory consequences of our own actions before they are executed. These predictions can be used to reduce the perceived intensity of self-generated touch and this somatosensory attenuation phenomenon is believed to be the reason why we cannot tickle ourselves. In my talk, I will discuss recent findings about the role of movement in somatosensory attenuation as well as its neural correlates. I will then present a new study contrasting somatosensory attenuation with another classic phenomenon in motor control called tactile suppression, and I will argue that these are distinct perceptual phenomena.