Speaker:
Paula Salamone
Linköping University
Date:
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Time:
14:00
Location:
Aula 11.1.8 (Campus Getafe)
Abstract
Psychosis is often characterized by disturbances in the sense of self, with patients frequently misattributing self-produced sensations to external sources. While somatic hallucinations and misperceptions are common, the underlying disruptions in basic bodily self-processing remain unclear.
In this seminar, Paula Salamone will present findings from a multimodal case–control study investigating the processing of self-evoked sensations, including touch and interoception, in individuals with psychotic disorders.
The study involved 70 participants (35 patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls) who completed self-/other-touch tasks and interoceptive assessments using functional MRI (fMRI), evoked potentials, and behavioral and psychophysical measures.
Results revealed altered neural and behavioral responses to self-generated sensations in patients with psychosis, including:
- Increased activation of the right superior temporal gyrus during self-touch.
- Impaired tactile self–other distinction detectable at the spinal cord level.
- Reduced behavioral differentiation between self- and externally generated touch.
- Altered interoceptive processing, including diminished cortical responses to heartbeat signals, lower heartbeat detection accuracy, and reduced self-reported interoceptive sensitivity.
These findings provide new evidence of pervasive disturbances in bodily self-processing in psychotic disorders. The results suggest that impairments in distinguishing between self-generated and external sensations emerge at very early stages of sensory processing and may contribute to the development of higher-order symptoms of psychosis.
About the Speaker
Paula Salamone is a researcher at Linköping University, where her work focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying bodily self-processing, interoception, and sensorimotor integration in psychiatric disorders. Her research combines neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral methods to better understand alterations in self-awareness and sensory processing associated with psychosis.
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If you are interested in giving a talk please write an email to: lab.imbody@gmail.com.
