Bodily Self Research Articles

Let’s Get Personal, Let’s Get Physical: Approaching the Bodily Self in Clinical Interactions

Medicine usually looks at the body as a biochemical and physical apparatus – from a distant third-person perspective, with fragmented, reductionist positions, unidirectional causal models, and highly selective foci. Even psychiatrists and psychotherapists focus more and more on the brain as an organ, look at genes and colourful pictures. And just as biomedical medicine stares at physical and chemical facts and ignores the person, one could say that psychotherapy stares at personality, cognition, and behaviour and ignores the body. But the lowlands where being-a-person and having-a-body meetmatter a lot for becoming ill, staying, and getting well. What attitudes and what approaches can help us understand the bodily self? After very briefly summarizing current understandings of embodiment and enactivism, we will suggest some practical consequences for everyday clinical diagnostics.

Mind over matter: Perceived phantom/prosthesis co-location contributes to prosthesis embodiment in lower limb amputees

Prosthesis embodiment – the cognitive integration of a prosthesis into an amputees’ body representation – has been identified as important for prosthetic rehabilitation. However, the underlying cognitive mechanisms remain unclear. There is reason to assume that phantom limbs that are experienced as part of the bodily self (phantom self-consciousness) can affect prosthesis embodiment, but only if the phantom and the prosthesis can be brought into perceived co-location (phantom prosthesis tolerance, PPT). In the present study, phantom-prosthesis interactions were examined in lower limb amputees, and a PPT component was psychometrically extracted. Mediation analysis revealed an indirect-only effect, where the relationship between phantom self-consciousness and prosthesis embodiment was mediated by PPT, indicating that phantom limbs can transfer their immanent vividness to the prosthesis. Subsequent analyses suggested that this effect can compensate for negative consequences on prosthesis embodiment that arise from phantom limb awareness. These results shape theoretical considerations about the cognitive processes contributing to the bodily self.

Schizophrenia in the flesh: Revisiting schizophrenia as a disorder of the bodily self

Schizophrenia in the flesh: Revisiting schizophrenia as a disorder of the bodily self

First Carved-up, Later Reconstructed, Nonetheless Different from What She Had Before: Discussion of Paolo Stramba-Badiale’s Hope and Uncertainty. The Subjective Experience of the Body During the Covid-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT This paper is a discussion of the therapeutic process in the case presented in Paolo Stramba-Badiale’s paper Hope and Uncertainty. The Subjective Experience of the Body During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The patient’s face was disfigured by the surgical treatment of cancer. This discussion considers psychosomatic perspectives of European and African theoreticians and integrates Kohut’s concept of the somatic self with more recent concepts of psychoanalytic Self Psychology. The patient’s psychological healing process, mediated through the therapeutic relationship with her analyst, combined with the paradoxical impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their impact on the eventual integration of her disfigured face—her injured body self—into her whole self, will be explored.

Neural processing of self-touch and other-touch in anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum condition

IntroductionThe tactile sense plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a functional bodily self. The ability to differentiate between self- and nonself-generated touch contributes to the perception of the bodies’ boundaries and more generally to self-other-distinction, both of which are thought be altered in anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum condition (AS). While it has been suggested that AN and AS are characterized by overlapping symptomatology, they might differ regarding body perception and self-other-distinction. MethodsParticipants with a diagnosis of AN (n = 25), AS (n = 29), and a comparison group without diagnoses (n = 57) performed a self-other-touch task during functional brain imaging. In the experimental conditions, they stroked their own arm or were stroked on the arm by an experimenter. ResultsAs shown previously, the CG group showed lower activation or deactivation in response to self-touch compared to social touch from someone else. A main group effect was found in areas including somatosensory cortex, frontal and temporal gyri, insula, and subcortical regions. This was driven by increased activations in participants with AN, while participants in the AS group showed mostly comparable activations to the comparison group. ConclusionsAN diagnosis was associated with an increased neural activity in response to both self-touch and social touch. Failure to attenuate self-touch might relate to altered predictions regarding the own body and reduced perception of bodily boundaries. Participants with an AS diagnosis were mostly comparable to the comparison group, potentially indicating unaltered tactile self-other-distinction.

Research of the Relationships among College Students’ Perfectionist Personality, Negative Body Self and Aggressive Behavior

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The off-line effect of affective touch on multisensory integration and tactile perceptual accuracy during the somatic signal detection task.

Affective touch refers to the emotional and motivational facets of tactile sensation and has been linked to the activation of a specialised system of mechanosensory afferents (the CT system), that respond optimally to slow caress-like touch. Affective touch has been shown to play an important role in the building of the bodily self: the multisensory integrated global awareness of one’s own body. Here we investigated the effects of affective touch on subsequent tactile awareness and multisensory integration using the Somatic Signal Detection Task (SSDT). During the SSDT, participants were required to detect near-threshold tactile stimulation on their cheek, in the presence/absence of a concomitant light. Participants repeated the SSDT twice, before and after receiving a touch manipulation. Participants were divided into two groups: one received affective touch (CT optimal; n = 32), and the second received non-affective touch (non-CT optimal; n = 34). Levels of arousal (skin conductance levels, SCLs) and mood changes after the touch manipulation were also measured. Affective touch led to an increase in tactile accuracy, as indicated by less false reports of touch and a trend towards higher tactile sensitivity during the subsequent SSDT. Conversely, non-affective touch was found to induce a partial decrease in the correct detection of touch possibly due to a desensitization of skin mechanoreceptors. Both affective and non-affective touch induced a more positive mood and higher SCLs in participants. The increase in SCLs was greater after affective touch. We conclude that receiving affective touch enhances the sense of bodily self therefore increasing perceptual accuracy and awareness. Higher SCLs are suggested to be a possible mediator linking affective touch to a greater tactile accuracy. Clinical implications are discussed.

Behavioural evidence of altered sensory attenuation in obesity.

Body ownership (i.e., the conscious belief of owning a body) and sense of agency (i.e., being the agent of one's own movements) are part of a pre-reflective experience of bodily self, which grounds on low-level complex sensory-motor processes. Although previous literature had already investigated body ownership in obesity, sense of agency was never explored. Here, we exploited the sensory attenuation effect (i.e., an implicit marker of the sense of agency; SA effect) to investigate whether the sense of agency was altered in a sample of 18 individuals affected by obesity as compared with 18 healthy-weight individuals. In our experiment, participants were asked to rate the perceived intensity of self-generated and other-generated tactile stimuli. Healthy-weight individuals showed a significantly greater SA effect than participants affected by obesity. Indeed, while healthy-weight participants perceived self-generated stimuli as significantly less intense as compared to externally generated ones, this difference between stimuli was not reported by affected participants. Our results relative to the SA effect pinpointed an altered sense of agency in obesity. We discussed this finding within the motor control framework with reference to obesity. We encouraged future research to further explore such effect and its role in shaping the clinical features of obesity.

The Development and Validation Of The Islamic Gratitude Scale (IGS-10)

There were not many adequate instruments to measure gratitude for the Indonesian people, especially the Muslim community. The purpose of this study is to develop the Islamic Gratitude Scale (IGS-10) by conducted an adequate set of tests. A total of 1218 respondents from students and workers participated on this study. This study found that the Islamic Gratitude Scale (IGS-10) has a good reliability (α= 0.863), good content validity and good factorial validity. The exploratory factor analysis found that IGS-10 has two factors, extrinsic gratitude (α= 0.845) and intrinsic gratitude (α= 0.761). Several sets of correlation tests found that IGS-10 has a good convergent validity, IGS-10 correlates with the Gratitude Questionerre (GQ-6), Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Scale - Short Form (GRAT-SF), and gratitude toward God. Furthermore, IGS-10 correlated with Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire - Appearance Scale (MBSRQ - US), and subjective well-being. This finding indicated that IGS-10 has a good cirterion-related validity. But unfortunately, IGS-10 did not correlate with Adolescents’ Self-concept Short Scale (ASCSS), optimism scale (LOT-R) and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). IGS-10 was associated with Social Desirability Scale (SDS) with low correlation. To develop this scale the next process that can be done is norming, so that the IGS-10 will become a scale that can be used widely and more convincingly.

Agency Deficits in a Human Genetic Model of Schizophrenia: Insights From 22q11DS Patients.

Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling mental illness characterized by a disordered sense of self. Current theories suggest that deficiencies in the sense of control over one’s actions (Sense of Agency, SoA) may underlie some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it is not clear if agency deficits are a precursor or a result of psychosis. Here, we investigated full body agency using virtual reality in a cohort of 22q11 deletion syndrome participants with a genetic propensity for schizophrenia. In two experiments employing virtual reality, full body motion tracking, and online feedback, we investigated SoA in two separate domains. Our results show that participants with 22q11DS had a considerable deficit in monitoring their actions, compared to age-matched controls in both the temporal and spatial domain. This was coupled with a bias toward erroneous attribution of actions to the self. These results indicate that nonpsychotic 22q11DS participants have a domain general deficit in the conscious sensorimotor mechanisms underlying the bodily self. Our data reveal an abnormality in the SoA in a cohort with a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia, but without psychosis, providing evidence that deficits in delineation of the self may be a precursor rather than a result of the psychotic state.

Smartphone use can modify the body schema: An ERP study based on hand mental rotation task

A substantial body of prior work has documented the relationship between extensive smartphone use and individuals' psychological features, yet little is known about how smartphone influences people's body representation. Based on previous studies on tool embodiment, this study adapted the hand mental rotation paradigm to determine whether smartphone use would change the body schema. We compared smartphone users' behavioral performances and electrophysiological activities when presented with different stimuli. We found that people had faster and more accurate responses to smartphone in hand stimuli than other two stimuli. ERP results showed that N200 amplitude elicited by gesture of holding a phone stimuli was smaller than smartphone in hand stimuli, which was smaller than non-smartphone in hand stimuli. For the P300 component, gesture of holding a phone stimuli evoked larger P300 amplitude than non-smartphone in hand stimuli, and there was no significant difference in P300 amplitude between gesture of holding a phone stimuli and smartphone in hand stimuli. These results provide new evidence that smartphone is embodied into the body schema. It not only expands the research scope and field of tool embodiment but also provides insight into the impact of smartphone on individuals' body self.

Can Yoga Boost Access to the Bodily and Emotional Self? Changes in Heart Rate Variability and in Affective Evaluation Before, During and After a Single Session of Yoga Exercise With and Without Instructions of Controlled Breathing and Mindful Body Awareness in Young Healthy Women.

Exercise is indispensable for a healthy lifestyle. Yoga exercise can have positive effects on well-being and on cardiac autonomic activity making it an ideal intervention for improving mind-body interactions and resilience to physical and mental stressors. Emotions trigger especially strong bodily and affective-cognitive responses because of their social relevance for the self and their biological relevance of mobilizing the organism for action. This study investigates whether changes in emotion processing related to self-other referential processing and changes in cardiac autonomic activity, reflected by heart rate variability (HRV), occur immediately after already a single session of yoga exercise when yoga postures are practiced with or without breathing- and mindful body awareness instructions. Women, all university students (N = 34, final sample: n = 30, n = 25 naïve to yoga practice) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups who performed the same yoga exercises with or without controlled breathing and mindfulness instructions. Emotional, self-other referential processing, awareness of bodily signals and HRV indicators were investigated before and after the exercise using standardized experimental tasks, standardized questionnaires, and mobile recording devices. Exercising for 30 minutes changed cardiac activity significantly. HRV measures showed adaptability of cardiac activity during the exercise as well as during the affective task post- to pre-exercise. Exercising with breathing instructions and mindful body awareness had no superior effects on cardiac, particularly parasympathetic activity, compared to practicing the same movements without such explicit instructions. Self-referential processing did not change; however, participants were faster and more accurate in their affective judgments of emotional stimuli [regardless of their reference (self/other)], and showed better awareness of bodily signals after compared to before the exercise session. The results support immediate, adaptive effects of yoga exercise on cardiac and affective-cognitive processing in an all-female healthy sample. Therefore, yoga exercise could be recommended as a physical activity for boosting cardiac and emotional resilience in this target group.

‘The Unconscious was Another Word for Inspiration’: Adam Phillips on Marion Milner

‘The Unconscious was Another Word for Inspiration’: Adam Phillips on Marion Milner

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN WEIGHT STATUS AND BODY IMAGE PERCEPTION AMONG FEMALE ADOLESCENTS IN TERENGGANU

Body image is the picture of how our body is perceived and stored in our mind. During puberty, many changes occur in the body of an adolescents. Often, a change in physical appearance has an impact on the levels of body’s satisfaction. Thus, it is crucial to assess the body image among adolescents to ensure the wellbeing of both physical and mental health is at optimal stage. Therefore, the aims of the present study is to determine the body fat percentage of female adolescents. Then, to evaluate the association between weight status and body image perception. Lastly, to assess whether the attitudes towards body image are predictive of female adolescents weight status. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 198 female adolescents in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu. Anthropometric measurements included weight and height, and BMI was determined. Body composition was assessed by using Bio-electrical Impedance Analysis through Bodystat Quadscan 4000 instrument. Body image perception was measured using the Stunkard’s Figure Rating Scale and Attitudes towards Body Image that was adapted from the Multidimensional Body Self Relation Questionnaire (MBSRQ). A total of 27.8% of female adolescents were overweight and 1.0 % were obese by body fat. Among the female adolescents, 62.5% of them were dissatisfied with their body image, although 57.5% of them were in the normal weight category. Pearson’s Chi Square test revealed there is an association between weight status and body image perception among the female adolescents (p<0.045). Based on the Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, there is a significant linear relationship between attitudes towards body image, domain of comparison of body shape and BMI (p<0.005). Thus, for every 1 unit increase in the domain of comparison of body shape there will be 0.570 decreased in BMI. Comparison of body shape is a significant predicting factor for BMI. In conclusion, further study should be carried out to investigate the factors that can possibly lead to the development of dissatisfaction with body image and the effects of getting negative body image in life of the adolescents during their adolescent’s phase.

The role of motor memory dynamics in structuring bodily self-consciousness

Bodily self-consciousness has been considered a sensorimotor root of self-consciousness. If this is the case, how does sensorimotor memory, which is important for the prediction of sensory consequences of volitional actions, influence awareness of bodily self-consciousness? This question is essential for understanding the effective acquisition and recovery of self-consciousness following its impairment, but it has remained unexamined. Here, we investigated how body ownership and agency recovered following body schema distortion in a virtual reality environment along with two kinds of motor memories: memories that were rapidly updated and memories that were gradually updated. We found that, although agency and body ownership recovered in parallel, the recovery of body ownership was predicted by fast memories and that of agency was predicted by slow memories. Thus, the bodily self was represented in multiple motor memories with different dynamics. This finding demystifies the controversy about the causal relationship between body ownership and agency.

Cultivating shenti in everyday life: Self, relationality and embodied masculinity in China

Reading through the concept of shenti (body–self), this article examines the everyday processes by which Chinese young men make sense of and articulate ideal embodied masculinity as situated in different relationships. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with urban young men, I argue that the Chinese masculine self is essentially constitutive of and constructed through shenti during the men’s ordinary daily experiences. I highlight the relational formation of shenti as lying at the core of constructing ideal Chinese manhood, teasing out the different layers of body–self and relationality underpinning an individual man’s bodily practices and social interactions. Engaging with traditional cultural values of the ideal body–self and a feminist interactionist approach to gendered embodiment, shenti provides an important analytical lens that will enable us to expand ethnocentric discourses of the sociology of the gendered body by revealing the embodied and experiential aspects of culture in everyday practices. In doing so, this article contributes to enriching the existing debates around cultural variations in the male body and embodied masculinity by offering a Chinese perspective.

Regenerative Virtual Therapy: The Use of Multisensory Technologies and Mindful Attention for Updating the Altered Representations of the Bodily Self.

The term “regenerative medicine” (RM) indicates an emerging trend in biomedical sciences that aims at replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish normal function. So far, the focus of RM has been the physical body. Neuroscience, however, is now suggesting that mental disorders can be broadly characterized by a dysfunction in the way the brain computes and integrates the representations of the inner and outer body across time [bodily self-consciousness (BSC)]. In this perspective, we proposed a new kind of clinical intervention, i.e., “Regenerative Virtual Therapy” (RVT), which integrates knowledge from different disciplines, from neuroscience to computational psychiatry, to regenerate a distorted or faulty BSC. The main goal of RVT was to use technology-based somatic modification techniques to restructure the maladaptive bodily representations behind a pathological condition. Specifically, starting from a Bayesian model of our BSC (i.e., body matrix), we suggested the use of mindful attention, cognitive reappraisal, and brain stimulation techniques merged with high-rewarding and novel synthetic multisensory bodily experience (i.e., a virtual reality full-body illusion in sync with a low predictabIlity interoceptive modulation) to rewrite a faulty experience of the body and to regenerate the wellbeing of an individual. The use of RVT will also offer an unprecedented experimental overview of the dynamics of our bodily representations, allowing the reverse-engineering of their functioning for hacking them using advanced technologies.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BODY SELF-RELATION AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN INDIA

Body self-relation is a multidimensional construct defined by persons" perceptions of and attitudes about their body. Body image does not simply reflect the biological enrichment of the individual or the feedback received from the significant others. The way you perceive about your body is your cognitive body image. This can lead to excessive concern with body shape and weight. Behaviors in which you relate as a result of your body image encompass your behavioral body image. A study based on the gender differences in body relation relating to young adults rating the comparison in perception of both male and female data. Hundred participants of both male and female took part in answering the by Multidimensional body selfrelations questionnaire (MBSRQ-AS). Results demonstrated by Mann Whitney U test revealed that there is significant difference between male and female young adults in their relation to body self, p<0.05, (2- tailed) in appearance orientation. There is no statistical sig.>0.05 differences in the other dimensions. Therefore, this study rejects the null hypothesis in (dimension) appearance orientation and accepts the null hypothesis (dimensions) in appearance evaluation, body area satisfaction, overweight preoccupation and self-classified weight. Keywords: body self-relation; gender differences

The Carnivalesque Politics of a Pandemic Body

Covid-19 has affected our lives in innumerable and formerly unimaginable ways. Among its effects is the threat to our identity in terms of broken bodily boundaries, severed social contacts, and a blurring of our group belongings. A response to this mingled physio-social threat has been an unprecedented surge of trans-subjectivity, as a form of intersubjectivity that is both elevated and reduced. In this paper, this phenomenon is explored in its carnivalesque manifestation, expressing itself as both a revolt against state control and an effort to re-appropriate a sense of bodily self and other. I illustrate these ideas with theoretical, visual and clinical materials.

Midwife and Nurse Students’ Perceptions of Body Privacy and Self Esteem. The Case of Turkey

Midwife and Nurse Students’ Perceptions of Body Privacy and Self Esteem. The Case of Turkey