Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41501868›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2026

Artificial vibrotactile feedback elicits neural correlates of sense of agency.

Inés Martín Muñoz, Nicolas Berberich, Gordon Cheng, Agnieszka Wykowska

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Inés Martín Muñoz *Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333, Munich, Germany. ines.martin@tum.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-0074-877X
Nicolas Berberich *Institute for Cognitive Systems, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6841-9340
Gordon ChengInstitute for Cognitive Systems, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0770-8717
Agnieszka WykowskaInstitute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3323-7357

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Sense of Agency (SoA) refers to the subjective experience of having control over our own actions and their outcomes. SoA is experienced when there is a match between the predicted and actual sensory outcomes of an intended motor action. Thus, receiving sensory feedback related to motor actions is essential for the formation of the SoA. As a consequence, individuals with sensory loss due to neuropathies or limb impairments might experience reduced SoA. Therefore, incorporating artificial sensory feedback in assistive technologies (e.g. prosthetics, exoskeletons, sensory substitution systems) is crucial for patients to properly experience SoA and thereby enhance the effective use of such technologies. In this study, with the use of neuro-cognitive measures, we validated the effect of a vibrotactile sensory feedback system on SoA for lower-limb movements.

methodsHealthy participants (n = 25) performed a stepping task while receiving vibrotactile sensory feedback and, in a control condition, auditory feedback. We employed SoA measures to validate the sensory feedback system, in particular the N100 ERP component of the electroencephalography (EEG) signal as an implicit neural measure of SoA, temporal interval estimation tasks as an implicit behavioural measure, and SoA questionnaires as an explicit measure. Statistical analyses, including repeated-measures ANOVA and t-tests, were conducted to examine the effects of externally generated versus self-generated stimuli on N100 modulation, temporal interval estimations, and SoA questionnaire results.

resultsOur results showed a significant modulation of the N100 component for self-generated, relative to externally generated, sensory feedback. The direction of the effect was opposite for vibrotactile and auditory sensory feedback, with enhancement in vibrotactile and attenuation in auditory modality. In contrast, no notable effects were found in interval estimation tasks or explicit agency measures, pointing to a possible dissociation between implicit and explicit measures of SoA and indicating higher sensitivity of implicit neural measures.

conclusionsSensory processing of the vibrotactile sensory feedback is sensitive to the difference between outcomes that are actively generated compared to passively received, as indexed by the modulation in amplitude of the N100 component. This is an indication that vibrotactile sensory feedback is capable of eliciting sense of agency. Additionally, we found that modulation of sensory processing is more sensitive than temporal interval estimates to self- vs. externally-generated outcomes. Therefore, we suggest using it as a metric for the design and validation of assistive technologies.

Indexed as

Feedback, SensorySense of AgencyVibrationAdultElectroencephalographyEvoked PotentialsFemaleHumansMalePsychomotor PerformanceTouchYoung AdultAgency measurementArtificial sensory feedbackSense of agency (SoA)

Identifiers

PMID41501868
PMCPMC12849441

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.