Accurate movement requires the CNS to use proprioceptive information about the joints of the body, the interrelations between body parts and knowledge of which parts belong to the body. Muscle spindle signals can contribute to determine which parts ‘belong’ (Walsh et al. J Physiol 2011: 589, 2009). With vision excluded, 20 subjects estimated the perceived vertical distance between the test right index finger and their left index finger when positioned ~12 cm apart. Subjects selected a line from a chart containing multiple vertically oriented lines varying from 0 to 20 cm in length. The subject’s left index finger and thumb were located near a realistic artificial finger or were positioned by an experimenter to grasp the artificial finger. Studies were repeated with and without digital nerve blocks. Perceived vertical spacing was 8.2 [6.0, 10.0] (median [IQR]) cm with no grasp of the artificial finger, and this was significantly less than the absolute distance of 12 cm (p<0.05). Perceived spacing diminished markedly during the passive grasp of the artificial finger (4.0 [2.0, 8.0] cm, p<0.05). Some subjects reported that they were holding their own right index finger, showing evidence of ownership over the artificial finger. This ‘finger grasp’ illusion was similar if the test index finger was anaesthetised. However, in separate experiments, the ‘finger grasp’ illusion was not present when the grasping left index and thumb and the test right index finger were anaesthetised (p>0.05), or when the artificial finger was replaced with a piece of wood (p>0.05). In conclusion, passive tactile inputs which are consistent with holding a real finger are able to induce a sense of ownership of an artificial finger. These inputs can change the central representation of the body and the perceived position of the hands.