The Neuroscience of Spatial Awareness

An experiment conducted by the Aralinska Institute explored how the brain constructs our understanding of spatial awareness through an out-of-body illusion. In this study, participants wore head-mounted displays while in a brain scanner, feeling as though they occupied a different location in the room. The findings suggest that the hippocampus, known for its role in navigation, is also critical for maintaining awareness of our bodily self-location. This research indicates that the sense of embodied experience is more complex and variable than previously thought, challenging the assumption that our perception of being in our own body is instinctive.