Body schema, multisensory integration and developmental disorders

Abstract

Our body is both, the object experiencing the world and the subject of our self- experience. As an object, the body provides sensory information via the bodily surface, which is processed and integrated into a coherent representation of the body, the body schema. This representation is considered to form a crucial structure underlying bodily self-identification. The process of integrating multimodal information into a coherent body representation has received extensive research interest with the aim to further clarify its neuronal correlates and functioning in health and disease. However, little is known about the ontogenetic functioning of body schema or multisensory integration processing and their role in the development of socio-emotional in children. This narrative overview discusses implication of a dysfunctional body schematic functioning for socio-emotional competencies. A general introduction on body schematic processes is followed by a narrative review of current findings on the maturation of the body schema and multisensory integration. We finally outline implications for the self- and socio-emotional development in children and discuss possible implications for a role of disrupted body schema functions in developmental disorders.