First person virtual embodiment modulates cortical network that encodes the bodily self and its surrounding space during the experience of domestic violence

Abstract

Social aggression, such as domestic violence, has been associated with a reduced ability to take on others’ perspectives. In this naturalistic imaging study, we investigated whether training human participants to take on a first person embodied perspective during the experience of domestic violence enhances the identification with the victim and elicits brain activity associated with the monitoring of the body and surrounding space and the experience of threat. We combined fMRI measurements with preceding virtual reality exposure from either first or third person perspective to manipulate whether domestic abuse was perceived as directed to oneself or another. We found that first person perspective exposure increased body ownership and identification with the virtual victim. Furthermore, when the stimulus was perceived as directed towards oneself, the brain network that encodes the bodily self and its surrounding space was more strongly synchronized across participants and connectivity increased from premotor and intraparietal cortex towards superior parietal lobe. Additionally, when the stimulus came near the body, brain activity in the amygdala strongly synchronized across participants. Exposure to third person perspective reduced synchronization of brain activity in the personal space network, increased modulation of visual areas and strengthened functional connectivity between premotor cortex, supramarginal gyrus and primary visual cortex. In conclusion, our results suggest that first person perspective embodiment training enhances experience from the viewpoint of the virtual victim, which is accompanied by synchronization in the fronto-parietal network to predict actions towards the body and in the amygdala to signal the proximity of the stimulus.

Significance Statement Using a combination of virtual reality and fMRI, our work reveals how first person perspective embodiment increases identification with the virtual victim during the experience of domestic abuse. We showed that when participants are embodied in the virtual victim the fronto-parietal brain network responsible for the representation of the bodily self and its surrounding space showed highly synchronized activity across participants when experiencing domestic abuse. Moreover, in this condition proximity of the aggressor strongly correlated with neural synchronization of the amygdala. We conclude that first person perspective embodiment allows participants to identify with the virtual victim through changes in this fronto-parietal network.