Biology subjects

Charalampaki, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Charalampaki, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Dissociation of movement and outcome representations in metacognition of agency

We studied the role of movement and outcome information in forming metacognitive representations of agency. Participants completed a goal-oriented task, a virtual version of a ball-throwing game. In two conditions, we manipulated either the visual representation of the throwing movement or its distal outcome (the resulting ball flight/trajectory). We measured participants accuracy in a discrimination agency task, as well as confidence in their responses and tested for differences in the electrophysiological (EEG) signal using linear mixed effect models. We found no mean differences between participants metacognitive efficiency between conditions, but we also found that metacognitive sensitivity did not correlate between the two conditions, suggesting a dissociation in their underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, exploratory analyses pointed toward a difference in the EEG signal between the two conditions. Taken together, our results suggest that while movement and outcome information contribute equally to participants sense of agency, they may do so through distinct underlying processes.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Contributions of tactile information to the sense of agency and its metacognitive representations

We compared the contribution of tactile information to other sources of information in our representations of agency. Participants (N = 40) reached with their right hand toward a ridged plate with a specific orientation and saw online feedback that could match or differ from their action in one of three ways: the physical plates orientation, the actions timing, or the hands position in space. Absolute subjective ratings revealed that an increased mismatch in tactile information led to a diminished sense of agency, similar to what has been reported for spatial and temporal mismatches. Further, estimations of metacognitive efficiency revealed similar M-ratios in the identification of tactile violation predictions as compared to temporal violations (but lower than spatial). These findings emphasize the importance of tactile information in shaping our experience of acting voluntarily, and show how this important component can be experimentally probed. Statement of RelevanceThe sense of agency is the feeling that we are the authors of our actions. It is essential not only for the control we assert over our bodies but also for how we interact with interfaces like a computer or a mobile phone. Despite the central role of touch in our daily activities, the role of tactile information in forming our sense of agency is often overlooked. In this project, we used a novel experimental design that allowed us to compare the role of tactile information relative to two other sources of information that have been previously reported to affect our agency, namely temporal and spatial information of the action. We provide evidence for the first time that tactile information is crucial for our subjective experience of agency and a tool to study this role further.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Motor outcomes congruent with intentions may sharpen metacognitive representations

We can monitor our intentional movements, in order to describe how we move our bodies. But it is unclear which information this metacognitive monitoring relies on. For example, when throwing a ball to hit a target, we might use the visual information about how the ball flew to metacognitively assess our performance. Alternatively, we might disregard the ball trajectory -- given that it is not directly relevant to our goal -- and metacognitively assess our performance based solely on whether we reached the goal of hitting the target. In two experiments we aimed to distinguish between these two alternatives and asked whether the distal outcome of a goal-directed action (hitting or missing a target) informs the metacognitive representations of our own movements. Participants performed a semi-virtual task where they moved their arm to throw a virtual ball at a target. After each throw, participants discriminated which of two ball trajectories displayed on the screen corresponded to the flight path of their throw and then rated their confidence in this decision. The task included two conditions that differed on whether the distal outcome of the two trajectories shown matched (congruent) or differed (incongruent). Participants were significantly more accurate in discriminating between the two trajectories, and responded faster in the incongruent condition and, accordingly, were significantly more confident on these trials. Crucially, we found significant differences in metacognitive performance (measured as meta-d/d) between the two conditions only on successful trials, where the virtual ball had hit the target. These results indicate that participants successfully incorporated information about the outcome of the movement into both their discrimination and confidence responses. However, information about the outcome selectively sharpened the precision of confidence ratings only when the outcome of their throw matched their intention. We argue that these findings underline the separation between the different levels of information that may contribute to body monitoring, and we provide evidence that intentions might play a central role in metacognitive motor representations. HighlightsO_LIParticipants threw a virtual ball to hit a target C_LIO_LIFollowing their throw participants selected between two plausible trajectories C_LIO_LIOn half the trials, the two alternative trajectories differed in their distal outcome. C_LIO_LIDiscrimination and confidence were higher in trials with different outcome. C_LIO_LIMetacognitive performance was best in hit trials when the alternative missed. C_LI

neuroscience↗