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At the University of Geneva in Switzerland, researchers performed a series of studies where they put subjects in a computer generated ‘avatar’ moving through virtual reality [link]. Each subject was fitted with a bicycle cap containing sensors to monitor brain activity and exposed to different digital, 3D environments through head-mounted stereoscopic goggles. What they found were significant changes in the brain's temporo-parietal and frontal regions – the parts of the brain responsible for integrating signals from the body with vision to produce a coherent perception of where we are in relation to our surroundings. Their results expand on clinical studies done in neurological patients reporting out-of-body experiences. Findings of a neurobiological basis for the sense of ‘self’ could lead to advances in the fields of kinesiology, neuro-rehabilitation, and pain treatments. They also contribute to understanding neurological and psychiatric diseases, and have relevance in the fields of robotics and virtual reality.