1 Introduction

Stroke is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It is estimated that around 650 million people around the globe, with an average of 60 years, are affected by stroke, and this number is expected to increase to 2 billion by 2050 (Tsao et al. 2022). In stroke survivors, the principal neurological consequence is hemiplegia or hemiparesis, which presents constrained mobility on one side of the body involving the paresis of the upper and/or lower limbs (Maenza et al. 2020). After discharge from the hospital, patients must undergo rehabilitation to restore their motor functions. However, only 25% of them can recover completely, and the remaining 75% of patients need constant and profound rehabilitation varying from weeks to several months or years (Langhorne et al. 2009).

1.1 The consequences of stroke on the sense of embodiment

A severe brain injury after a stroke affects neural plasticity and changes the survivors’ embodied experiences, which means the experiences of how post-stroke patients perceive the world through their bodies (Chen et al. 2010; Hosp and Luft 2011; Lo et al. 2023). Hence, brain damages distort the body representations that control proprioceptive and kinesthetic signals and the perception of peripersonal space, thus preventing the correct limbs' planning, preparation, and execution (Connell et al. 2008; Corredi Dell’Acqua and Tessari, 2010; Wallwork et al. 2016). In this perspective, stroke modulates the sense of embodiment referred to the feeling of being inside the body (ownership), in the place where the body is located (location), and moving the body according to own intentions (agency) (Kilteni et al. 2012). Furthermore, the sense of embodiment contributes to assimilating various aspects of self-consciousness, including sensation, emotions, and perception, into the physical body (Bloom 2018). These bodily alienations improve how the body is perceived consciously and may also cause disruptions in day-to-day activities, as healthy individuals usually perform bodily actions naturally and spontaneously without conscious efforts (Lo et al. 2023).

Considering the role of neural plasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt in order to foster functional activities (Murphy and Corbett 2009)—a growing number of studies in the field of multisensory integration techniques are adopting the body ownership illusions to modulate the distorted body representations after brain damage (Matamala-Gomez et al. 2020). One example is the mirror box, an instrument that permits the patient to embody a healthy arm reflected in the mirror. When the arm ownership illusion is achieved, the mirror box allows the patient to perceive the reflected arm as her own, positioned in place of the injured arm (Tosi et al. 2018; Yang et al. 2018). This technique has been recommended to restore the sensorimotor function of chronic stroke patients (Hatem et al. 2016). Furthermore, previous literature also demonstrated that practicing a physical task mentally can enhance performance and could be a promising technique for motor rehabilitation (Mulder 2007), besides reducing chronic pain, suffered by the majority of stroke patients, by activating the cortical areas related to the affected limb (Moseley 2004).