Perception of the surface contour of the body is generally thought to depend on topographically organized neural maps of somatosensation in the thalamus and cortex. Recent neurophysiological studies indicate that these maps are potentially modifiable through alterations in their sensory input. We present evidence that the apparent shape and orientation of the body can be changed within seconds by using muscle vibration to generate proprioceptive misinformation about limb position. Depending on the position of the hands or feet in relation to the rest of the body and to the test chamber, it is possible to generate systematic perceptual distortions of the body and changes in the apparent orientation of the body. Some implications of these observations for the maintenance of an accurate body schema, for spatial orientation, and for the encoding of ocular position are described.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 39. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 September 2025.
All research outputs
#1,305,671
of 32,948,899 outputs
Outputs from Brain
#1,198
of 8,927 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#143
of 18,047 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Brain
#1
of 4 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,948,899 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 8,927 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 27.5. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 18,047 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them
