Peter Brugger1, Bigna Lenggenhager. 1. aNeuropsychology Unit, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich bZIHP, Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The experience of ourselves as an embodied agent with a first-person perspective is referred to as 'bodily self'. We present a selective overview of relevant clinical and experimental studies. RECENT FINDINGS: Sharing multisensory body space with others can be observed in patients with structurally altered bodies (amputations, congenital absence of limbs), with altered functionality after hemiplegia, such as denial of limb ownership (somatoparaphrenia) and with alterations in bodily self-consciousness on the level of the entire body (e.g. in autoscopic phenomena). In healthy participants, the mechanisms underpinning body ownership and observer perspective are empirically investigated by multisensory stimulation paradigms to alter the bodily self. The resulting illusions have promoted the understanding of complex disturbances of the bodily self, such as out-of-body experiences. We discuss the role of interoception in differentiating between self and others and review current advances in the study of body integrity identity disorder, a condition shaped as much by neurological as by social-psychological factors. SUMMARY: We advocate a social neuroscience approach to the bodily self that takes into account the interactions between body, mind and society and might help close the divide between neurology and psychiatry.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The experience of ourselves as an embodied agent with a first-person perspective is referred to as 'bodily self'. We present a selective overview of relevant clinical and experimental studies. RECENT FINDINGS: Sharing multisensory body space with others can be observed in patients with structurally altered bodies (amputations, congenital absence of limbs), with altered functionality after hemiplegia, such as denial of limb ownership (somatoparaphrenia) and with alterations in bodily self-consciousness on the level of the entire body (e.g. in autoscopic phenomena). In healthy participants, the mechanisms underpinning body ownership and observer perspective are empirically investigated by multisensory stimulation paradigms to alter the bodily self. The resulting illusions have promoted the understanding of complex disturbances of the bodily self, such as out-of-body experiences. We discuss the role of interoception in differentiating between self and others and review current advances in the study of body integrity identity disorder, a condition shaped as much by neurological as by social-psychological factors. SUMMARY: We advocate a social neuroscience approach to the bodily self that takes into account the interactions between body, mind and society and might help close the divide between neurology and psychiatry.
Authors: Jürgen Hänggi; Deborah A Vitacco; Leonie M Hilti; Roger Luechinger; Bernd Kraemer; Peter Brugger Journal: Brain Behav Date: 2017-02-23 Impact factor: 2.708
Authors: Rianne M Blom; Nienke C Vulink; Sija J van der Wal; Takashi Nakamae; Zhonglin Tan; Eske M Derks; Damiaan Denys Journal: Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat Date: 2016-06-16 Impact factor: 2.570
Authors: Giuseppina Porciello; Moritz M Daum; Cristina Menghini; Peter Brugger; Bigna Lenggenhager Journal: PLoS One Date: 2016-08-19 Impact factor: 3.240