Prosthesis embodiment predicts reduced amputation salience as reflected in dreams

Abstract The amputation of a limb requires substantial physical and psychosocial adjustment to a changed life situation. As a prosthesis often facilitates this process, its integration into one’s body representation, referred to as prosthesis embodiment, has been proposed as a marker of adjustment. Building on previous evidence that negative consequences of limb amputation are reflected in how the own body is experienced in dreams, this study examined whether prosthesis embodiment mitigates such effects. In 192 prosthesis-using individuals with acquired lower limb amputation, dream recall frequency, recalled body appearance in dreams (impaired, intact, or not remembered), and indicators of psychosocial adjustment were assessed. Dreams most frequently featured an intact body. In 113 dream recallers, higher prosthesis embodiment, unlike other psychosocial indicators, was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of recalling an impaired body. No association emerged for recalling an intact body or for absent body recall. This asymmetric pattern supports the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, suggesting that an embodied prosthesis loses salience as an amputation cue, thereby reducing waking concerns about impairment reflected in dreams. The findings provide empirical evidence that prosthesis embodiment represents cognitive integration of the device into the self-model, marking the transition from salient foreign-body representation to non-salient self-representation.