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The interactive body: Multisensory and embodied signatures of bodies interacting in the world
We are happy to announce that BRNet 5 will take place in Mallorca, Spain on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th September 2023
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We usually take the ability to identify our body as our own for granted, but empirical research in the past few decades has shown that our body representations rely on the cognitive ability to combine information about the body originating from different sensory modalities. Indeed, the development of our models of the self and the world around us relies on the contribution of both exteroceptive (e.g., visual, tactile and auditory cues) and interoceptive (e.g., physiological) bodily signals.
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The present conference aims to discuss recent research lines that, albeit different, converge on the idea that the experience of our body is not a fixed phenomenon but rather an active, ever changing and dynamic process. It relies on the interplay between environmental, interoceptive, and exteroceptive bodily signals which are received during motor, social and technological interactions with the world and with others. The present conference will be of broad interest to researchers from different communities including cognitive, social, and affective neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, neurophysiologists, human-computer interaction researchers interested in the acting, sensing and feeling body in general and to researchers studying body representation, multisensory integration, interoception, virtual reality, robotics, embodied cognition, and the sensorimotor system, in particular.
We welcome submissions on the topic ranging from birth to aging, in healthy and pathological conditions, from behavioral, neurophysiological, neuroimaging, technological and philosophical points of view. It will be open to behavioral, neuroimaging, physiological, pharmacological, developmental and clinical contributions on various aspects of the sense of body ownership (i.e., multisensory integration, active sensing, perception, space and action, interoception, and more recent virtual reality and technology-oriented research). We are particularly interested in research presenting experimental evidence supporting the idea that the body is inherently an interactive tool, and such interactions with the external and internal world are fundamental to create a coherent sense of oneself. Translational clinical and societal implications for some of this evidence can also be discussed, with the final aim of promoting awareness and dialogues among the experts from various disciplines.
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To address these issues, the program of the BRNet5 will comprise one early career researchers’ session with panel discussion with industry, PIs, and editors; two sessions with short talks, and two keynote talks. During the day, we will also have poster presentations.
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Attendance at the conference is free but space is limited. To submit your contribution, please check the registration and submission link below . The deadline for submission is Friday the 2nd June 2023. Participants will be notified of acceptance by early July 2023.
Please note that 50% of attendance will be guaranteed to early career researchers.
We look forward to seeing you in the Balearic Islands!
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Laura Crucianelli, Alex Galvez-Pol & Ana Tajadura-Jiménez (Conference Organizers)
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The interactive body: Multisensory and embodied signatures of bodies interacting in the world
Keynote speakers
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Prof Laurence R. Harris
York University, Canada
Laurence Harris's research investigates how the different senses are combined to generate our perceptions of the world and of our body. He is particularly interested in the way these combinations can adapt to changing demands brought about by unusual environments which he creates using various means including virtual reality, the microgravity of space, human centrifuges, and moving rooms.
Prof. Roy Salomon
University of Haifa, Israel
Prof. Roy Salomon’s work focuses on the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying the representation of the “Self” and “Reality” in the human mind. Specifically, he examines the computations giving rise to models of bodily self and how these interact and form representational models of the world, in both healthy and psychiatric populations.
