Assessment of body Schema distortions in early-onset schizophrenia

Abstract

Distorted body representations play a major role in the onset and maintenance of Schizophrenia. However, these distortions are difficult to assess because explicit assessments can provoke intense fears about the body and require a good insight. We proposed an implicit motor imagery task to a 14-year-old girl with Early-Onset Schizophrenia. The test consisted of presenting different openings varying in width. For each aperture, the young girl has to say if she could pass through without turning her shoulders. A critical aperture is determined as the first aperture for which she considered she could no longer pass, compared to her shoulders' width. The girl perceived herself as 51 % wider than she was, indicating a significant oversized body schema. The implicit assessments of body schema generate less anxiety and does not require a great level of insight; moreover, those are promising tools for early detection of disease in prodromal phases of Schizophrenia and assistance with differential diagnosis.