Resting-state and Task-related Cortical Activities Predict Sense of Ownership and Agency: An Explorative Tool-use Study

Prior research has highlighted that brain oscillations, particularly in the theta, alpha and beta frequency bands, are closely linked to the sense of ownership and agency in both physical and virtual environments. Building on this foundation, the present study aimed to investigate whether participants develop a sense of ownership and agency over a physical tool or a computer mouse (termed virtual tools) during a reaching and grasping task, utilizing a well-established tool-use paradigm employed in our prior research. Additionally, we explored whether higher ratings of ownership and agency could be predicted by resting-state brain oscillations at baseline and during the tool-use training task. Twenty young adult participants took part in both physical and virtual tool-use training, completed across two blocks of active training. After each training session, participants completed a questionnaire to subjectively assess their sense of ownership and agency over both, the physical tool and the computer mouse. EEG recordings were conducted before, during, and after each tool-use training block, allowing us to assess the neural correlates of these experiences. The results showed that patterns of resting-state and task-related brain activity were linked to participants' sense of ownership and agency during tool-use training. Specifically, higher resting-state beta power in the right temporal region and alpha power in frontal areas predicted stronger feelings of ownership, while higher agency ratings were associated with alpha and beta power in the occipital region. During the task, ownership was linked to theta, alpha, and beta power across multiple brain areas, whereas agency during physical tool-use training correlated with increased frontal alpha, central and occipital beta, and theta in frontotemporal, central, and parieto-occipital regions. In virtual tool-use training, agency was associated with frontal alpha, frontal theta, and beta power in the left temporal and occipital areas. These findings suggest that both ownership and agency rely on distinct but overlapping neural mechanisms, highlighting the role of widespread oscillatory activity in integrating tools into the sensorimotor system’s adaptation to tool use. Keywords: Resting-state EEG, task-related EEG, sense of ownership, agency, tool-use