Oscillatory dynamics within fronto-insular-parietal networks integrate thermosensory signals into body ownership

Cutaneous thermosensory signals are linked to survival and homeostatic regulation, yet their relationship with higher order cognitive functions remains poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that skin temperature is associated with body ownership—the sense that a body and its parts belong to oneself—but the oscillatory basis of this relationship in healthy individuals is unknown. We combined a multisensory illusion paradigm with thermal imaging and electroencephalography to investigate the oscillatory correlates of skin-temperature changes during experimentally induced changes in body ownership. Selective perturbations in theta/low-alpha oscillatory activity, localized to right premotor regions, tracked a decrease in hand temperature during altered hand ownership. Moreover, the strength of a functional connectivity network spanning bilateral frontoparietal areas, including the insula, was associated with temperature changes coupled with ownership modulation. These findings identify a previously uncharacterized oscillatory signature associated with thermosensory changes during body ownership alteration, linking physiological fluctuations to neural dynamics of self-representation.