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Elisa Raffaella Ferrè

Bio: Elisa Raffaella Ferrè is an academic researcher from Royal Holloway, University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Vestibular system & Somatosensory system. The author has an hindex of 19, co-authored 61 publications receiving 1092 citations. Previous affiliations of Elisa Raffaella Ferrè include Aix-Marseille University & University of Pavia.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2012-Cortex
TL;DR: It is proposed that somatoparaphrenia occurs providing that a distributed cortical lesion pattern is present together with a subcortical lesion load that prevents most sensory input from being processed in neocortical structures; involvement of deep cortical and sub cortical grey structures of the temporal lobe may contribute to reduce the sense of familiarity experienced by somato-parietal patients for their paralyzed limb.

108 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings suggest that vestibular stimulation has a specific facilitatory effect on somatosensory detection, distinct from non‐specific arousal and spatial attentional effects of CVS.
Abstract: Functional imaging studies show that vestibular and somatosensory projections overlap in the human brain. However, it remains unclear whether and how vestibular inputs affect somatosensory function. To address this issue, we studied the effects of left caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) on detection of near-threshold somatosensory stimuli delivered to the left and right hands of healthy volunteers. To investigate whether these effects were somatosensory specific, or supramodal, we also tested CVS modulation of visual contrast detection. Signal detection analyses showed increased somatosensory perceptual sensitivity immediately after CVS, both ipsilaterally and contralaterally. No statistically reliable effects on visual contrast sensitivity were found. These findings suggest that vestibular stimulation has a specific facilitatory effect on somatosensory detection, distinct from non-specific arousal and spatial attentional effects of CVS. Thus, the overlap in brain activations for vestibular and somatosensory inputs is not simply an anatomical curiosity, but may reflect a functional cross-modal perceptual interaction.

73 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of some of the most recent neuropsychological evidence about multisensory control of pain, and the way that visual, auditory, vestibular and tactile systems contribute to the creation of coherent representations of the body is presented.
Abstract: Our body is a unique entity by which we interact with the external world. Consequently, the way we represent our body has profound implications in the way we process and locate sensations and in turn perform appropriate actions. The body can be the subject, but also the object of our experience, providing information from sensations on the body surface and viscera, but also knowledge of the body as a physical object. However, the extent to which different senses contribute to constructing the rich and unified body representations we all experience remains unclear. In this review, we aim to bring together recent research showing important roles for several different sensory modalities in constructing body representations. At the same time, we hope to generate new ideas of how and at which level the senses contribute to generate the different levels of body representations and how they interact. We will present an overview of some of the most recent neuropsychological evidence about multisensory control of pain, and the way that visual, auditory, vestibular and tactile systems contribute to the creation of coherent representations of the body. We will focus particularly on some of the topics discussed in the symposium on Multimodal Contributions to Body Representation held on the 15th International Multisensory Research Forum (2015, Pisa, Italy).

72 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that vestibular input influences the registration of somatosensory input onto a map of the body, but does not influence stored knowledge about the spatial organisation of theBody as a physical object (somatorepresentation).

66 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An approach to cybersickness based on sensory cue integration is discussed, focusing on the dynamic re-weighting of visual and vestibular signals for self-motion.
Abstract: In the past decade, there has been a rapid advance in Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Key to the user's VR experience are multimodal interactions involving all senses. The human brain must integrate real-time vision, hearing, vestibular and proprioceptive inputs to produce the compelling and captivating feeling of immersion in a VR environment. A serious problem with VR is that users may develop symptoms similar to motion sickness, a malady called cybersickness. At present the underlying cause of cybersickness is not yet fully understood. Cybersickness may be due to a discrepancy between the sensory signals which provide information about the body's orientation and motion: in many VR applications, optic flow elicits an illusory sensation of motion which tells users that they are moving in a certain direction with certain acceleration. However, since users are not actually moving, their proprioceptive and vestibular organs provide no cues of self-motion. These conflicting signals may lead to sensory discrepancies and eventually cybersickness. Here we review the current literature to develop a conceptual scheme for understanding the neural mechanisms of cybersickness. We discuss an approach to cybersickness based on sensory cue integration, focusing on the dynamic re-weighting of visual and vestibular signals for self-motion.

65 citations


Cited by
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08 Sep 1978-Science

5,182 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In what case do you like reading so much? What about the type of the experiments in hearing book? The needs to read? Well, everybody has their own reason why should read some books.

645 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies using CVS, GVS, and auditory stimuli reveals that Ri, parietal operculum and posterior insula are vestibular regions where afferents converge from otoliths and semicircular canals, and may thus be involved in the processing of signals informing about body rotations, translations and tilts.

353 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Examination of literature on HMDs that report Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) scores found older samples (mean age ≥35 years) scored significantly lower total SSQ means than younger samples, however, these findings are based on a small evidence base as a limited number of studies included older users.
Abstract: The use of head-mounted displays (HMD) for virtual reality (VR) application-based purposes including therapy, rehabilitation, and training is increasing. Despite advancements in VR technologies, many users still experience sickness symptoms. VR sickness may be influenced by technological differences within HMDs such as resolution and refresh rate, however, VR content also plays a significant role. The primary objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the literature on HMDs that report Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) scores to determine the impact of content. User factors associated with VR sickness were also examined. A systematic search was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Fifty-five articles met inclusion criteria, representing 3,016 participants (mean age range 19.5-80; 41% female). Findings show gaming content recorded the highest total SSQ mean 34.26 (95%CI 29.57-38.95). VR sickness profiles were also influenced by visual stimulation, locomotion and exposure times. Older samples (mean age ≥35 years) scored significantly lower total SSQ means than younger samples, however, these findings are based on a small evidence base as a limited number of studies included older users. No sex differences were found. Across all types of content, the pooled total SSQ mean was relatively high 28.00 (95%CI 24.66-31.35) compared with recommended SSQ cut-off scores. These findings are of relevance for informing future research and the application of VR in different contexts.

271 citations