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The rubber hand illusion is a fallible method to study ownership of prosthetic limbs

By Kirstin Ahmed

Not everyone is susceptible to illusions. We showed that the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) can be induced with different types of tactile stimulation but about 30% of people are immune to it. This includes four people implanted with neuromusculoskeletal prostheses who otherwise perceive their prostheses as part of their own body when using it in daily life, thus highlighting limitations to the RHI as an experimental paradigm.