  It has been shown that mere observation of body discontinuity leads to
diminished body ownership. However, the impact of body discontinuity has mainly
been investigated in conditions where participants observe a collocated static
virtual body from a first-person perspective. This study explores the influence
of body discountinuity on the sense of embodiment, when rich visuomotor
correlations between a real and an artificial virtual body are established. In
two experiments, we evaluated body ownership and motor performance, when
participants interacted in virtual reality either using virtual hands connected
or disconnected from a body. We found that even under the presence of congruent
visuomotor feedback, mere observation of body discontinuity resulted in
diminished embodiment. Contradictory evidence was found in relation to motor
performance, where further research is needed to understand the role of visual
body discontinuity in motor tasks. Preliminary findings on physiological
reactions to a threat were also assessed, indicating that body visual
discontinuity does not differently impact threat-related skin conductance
responses. The present results are in accordance with past evidence showing
that body discontinuity negatively impacts embodiment. However, further
research is needed to understand the influence of visuomotor feedback and body
morphological congruency on motor performance and threat-related physiological
reactions.
