Body ownership determines the attenuation of self-generated tactile sensations

Significance When we touch one hand with the other, the touch feels less intense than identical touches generated by another person or robot. This is because our brain predicts the contact between our hands and attenuates the expected sensation. Here, we describe how the attenuation of self-touch depends on the experienced ownership of the touching hand. We found that illusory self-touch with a rubber hand that feels like one’s own is attenuated. We also found the reverse: The attenuation of real self-touch is reduced when the rubber hand that feels like one’s own is far from the receiving hand. These findings are important because they demonstrate that sensory predictions and sensory attenuation depend on the sense of ownership of the body.