The role of the right parietal lobe in anorexia nervosa

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1531-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Nico ◽  
E. Daprati ◽  
N. Nighoghossian ◽  
E. Carrier ◽  
J.-R. Duhamel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Healthy Volunteers ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Body Boundary ◽  
The Right

BackgroundPatients with anorexia nervosa (AN) overestimate their size despite being severely underweight. Whether this misperception echoes an underlying emotional disturbance or also reflects a genuine body-representation deficit is debatable. Current measures inquire directly about subjective perception of body image, thus distinguishing poorly between top-down effects of emotions/attitudes towards the body and disturbances due to proprioceptive disorders/distorted body schema. Disorders of body representation also emerge following damage to the right parietal lobe. The possibility that parietal dysfunction might contribute to AN is suspected, based on the demonstrated association of spatial impairments, comparable to those found after parietal lesion, with this syndrome.MethodWe used a behavioral task to compare body knowledge in severe anorexics (n=8), healthy volunteers (n=11) and stroke patients with focal damage to the left/right parietal lobe (n=4). We applied a psychophysical procedure based on the perception, in the dark, of an approaching visual stimulus that was turned off before reaching the observer. Participants had to predict whether the stimulus would have hit/missed their body, had it continued its linear motion.ResultsHealthy volunteers and left parietal patients estimated body boundaries very close to the real ones. Conversely, anorexics and right parietal patients underestimated eccentricity of their left body boundary.ConclusionsThese findings are in line with the role the parietal cortex plays in developing and maintaining body representation, and support the possibility for a neuropsychological component in the pathogenesis of anorexia, offering alternative approaches to treatment of the disorder.

The Role of Hand Size in the Fake-Hand Illusion Paradigm

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5853 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1547-1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Pavani ◽  
Massimiliano Zampini
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Video Image ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Statistical Correlations ◽  
Hand Size ◽  
Visible Hand

When a hand (either real or fake) is stimulated in synchrony with our own hand concealed from view, the felt position of our own hand can be biased toward the location of the seen hand. This intriguing phenomenon relies on the brain's ability to detect statistical correlations in the multisensory inputs (ie visual, tactile, and proprioceptive), but it is also modulated by the pre-existing representation of one's own body. Nonetheless, researchers appear to have accepted the assumption that the size of the seen hand does not matter for this illusion to occur. Here we used a real-time video image of the participant's own hand to elicit the illusion, but we varied the hand size in the video image so that the seen hand was either reduced, veridical, or enlarged in comparison to the participant's own hand. The results showed that visible-hand size modulated the illusion, which was present for veridical and enlarged images of the hand, but absent when the visible hand was reduced. These findings indicate that very specific aspects of our own body image (ie hand size) can constrain the multisensory modulation of the body schema highlighted by the fake-hand illusion paradigm. In addition, they suggest an asymmetric tendency to acknowledge enlarged (but not reduced) images of body parts within our body representation.

scholarly journals Is Right Angular Gyrus Involved in the Metric Component of the Mental Body Representation in Touch and Vision? A tDCS Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 284
Author(s):  
Grazia Fernanda Spitoni ◽  
Giorgio Pireddu ◽  
Valerio Zanellati ◽  
Beatrice Dionisi ◽  
Gaspare Galati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Order Function ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sense Of Touch

Several studies have found in the sense of touch a good sensory modality by which to study body representation. Here, we address the “metric component of body representation”, a specific function developed to process the discrimination of tactile distances on the body. The literature suggests the involvement of the right angular gyrus (rAG) in processing the tactile metricity on the body. The question of this study is the following: is the rAG also responsible for the visual metric component of body representation? We used tDCS (anodal and sham) in 20 subjects who were administered an on-body distance discrimination task with both tactile and visual stimuli. They were also asked to perform the same task in a near-body condition. The results allow us to confirm the role of rAG in the estimation of tactile distances. Further, we also showed that rAG might be involved in the discrimination of distances on the body not only in tactile but also in visual modality. Finally, based on the significant effects of anodal stimulation even in a near-body visual discrimination task, we proposed a higher-order function of the AG in terms of a supramodal comparator of quantities.

The role of hand size in own-body representation in childhood, adolescence & adulthood

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna M. Gottwald ◽  
Laura Bird ◽  
Andrew J. Bremner ◽  
Dorothy Cowie
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Change ◽  
Rubber Hand ◽  
Hand Size ◽  
Multisensory Information ◽  
Proprioceptive Drift

Children’s and adults’ body representation is constrained by bottom-up multisensory information and by top-down knowledge on possible postures. Using the rubber hand illusion paradigm, this study (N = 229) investigates whether different fake hand sizes (60%, 80%, 100%, 120% or 140% of typical hand size) constrain embodiment in three age groups (6- to 7-year-olds, 12- to 13-year-olds, and adults). Embodiment was measured by questionnaire, proprioceptive drift, and affordance judgements. In line with previous work, we found robust effects of age and synchrony, with higher responses at younger ages and under conditions of visual-tactile synchrony. There were no significant effects of hand size on proprioceptive drift or self-rated hand ownership; nor did participants verbally report that their hand had changed size. Participants of all ages therefore embodied a differently-sized fake hand, without being explicitly aware of the size change. However, manual judgments of own-hand size were significantly influenced by the size of the previously seen fake hand. Therefore, participants did implicitly incorporate a size change into their body schema. In sum, embodiment of differently-sized hands reveals substantial plasticity in body representation, modulated strongly by multisensory information and age. Further, the embodiment of a differently-sized hand specifically affects action-oriented representations of the body.

Body Schema and Body Image

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Neural Activities ◽  
Body Shapes ◽  
Influential Book ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

Body schema refers to the system of sensory-motor functions that enables control of the position of body parts in space, without conscious awareness of those parts. Body image refers to a conscious representation of the way the body appears—a set of conscious perceptions, affective attitudes, and beliefs pertaining to one’s own bodily image. In 2005, Shaun Gallagher published an influential book entitled ‘How the Body Shapes the Mind’. This book not only defined both body schema (BS) and body image (BI), but also explored the complicated relationship between the two. The book also established the idea that there is a double dissociation, whereby body schema and body image refer to two different, but closely related, systems. Given that many kinds of pathological cases can be described in terms of body schema and body image (phantom limbs, asomatognosia, apraxia, schizophrenia, anorexia, depersonalization, and body dysmorphic disorder, among others), we might expect to find a growing consensus about these concepts and the relevant neural activities connected to these systems. Instead, an examination of the scientific literature reveals continued ambiguity and disagreement. This volume brings together leading experts from the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry in a lively and productive dialogue. It explores fundamental questions about the relationship between body schema and body image, and addresses ongoing debates about the role of the brain and the role of social and cultural factors in our understanding of embodiment.

The Role of Spices with reference Novel Coronavirus Covid 19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1655-1661
Author(s):  
Roshna Sukheoji Bhutada ◽  
Kritika Umate
Keyword(s):  
Viral Infections ◽  
The Body ◽  
Common People ◽  
Supplementary Food ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Right ◽  
Common Spices ◽  
Physiological Reactions

The need of the day is a brisk lift to the resistant framework to keep it fit, battling today pandemic infections, for example, Covid — 19. One should get the right amount of nutrients from the diet, supplementation regimen to boost the immune system. These spices are always there to make tasty food as well as to protect the body from infectious diseases by building the immunity strong Ayurveda approaches to develop physiological reactions to facilitate immunity. Planning of diet is most important to boost immunity. As per many types of research to provide supplementary food which contains Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and immunity boosting food such as dealing with plenty of spices for a very long time. These spices include some rare to very common spices which we can found near us. The concern is that these viral infections are very prone to attack weak immunity and take the chance to affect the country to the globe. So the very common spices available will be always helpful to get through this Regular use of a few spices in the very simple form proves its importance as a medicine. In this article a review of spices is done which we are available near us, we are using it in our daily life and we are getting the benefit of these which a common people might not be fully aware of about role of immunity building of the body. 

Triadic body representations in the human cerebral cortex and peripheral nerves

2021 ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriaki Kanayama ◽  
Kentaro Hiromitsu
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
Neural System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Structural Description ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
The Brain

Is the body reducible to neural representation in the brain? There is some evidence that the brain contributes to the functioning of the body from neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and lesion studies. Well-known dyadic taxonomy of the body schema and the body image (hereafter BSBI) is based primarily on the evidence in brain-damaged patients. Although there is a growing consensus that the BSBI exists, there is little agreement on the dyadic taxonomy because it is not a concrete and common concept across various research fields. This chapter tries to investigate the body representation in the cortex and nervous system in terms of sensory modality and psychological function using two different approaches. The first approach is to review the neurological evidence and cortical area which is related to body representation, regardless of the BSBI, and then to reconsider how we postulate the BSBI in our brain. It can be considered that our body representation could be constructed by the whole of the neural system, including the cortex and peripheral nerves. The second approach is to revisit the BSBI conception from the viewpoint of recent neuropsychology and propose three types of body representation: body schema, body structural description, and body semantics. This triadic taxonomy is considered consistent with the cortical networks based on the evidence of bodily disorders due to brain lesions. These two approaches allow to reconsider the BSBI more carefully and deeply and to give us the possibility that the body representation could be underpinned with the network in the brain.

From the Body Schema to the Historical-Racial Schema

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 305-320
Author(s):  
Shiloh Whitney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Schema ◽  
The Body ◽  
Premier Lieu ◽  
Nous Pouvons ◽  
Affective Intentionality ◽  
Feminist Theories ◽  
Schéma Corporel ◽  
The Way ◽  
Theories Feministes

What resources does Merleau-Ponty’s account of the body schema offer to the Fanonian one? First I show that Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the body schema is already a theory of affect: one that does not oppose affects to intentionality, positioning them not only as sense but as force, cultivating affective agencies rather than constituting static sense content. Then I argue that by foregrounding the role of affect in both thinkers, we can understand the way in which the historical-racial schema innovates, anticipating and influencing feminist theories of the affective turn – especially Sara Ahmed’s theory of affective economies. The historical-racial schema posits the constitution of affective agencies on a sociogenic scale, and these affective economies in turn account for the possibility of the collapse of the body schema into a racial epidermal schema, a disjunction of affective intentionality Fanon calls “affective tetanization.” Quelles ressources l’analyse du schéma corporel faite par Merleau-Ponty fournit-elle au schéma historico-racial proposé par Fanon ? En premier lieu, je vise à montrer que la théorie du schéma corporel de Merleau-Ponty est déjà une théorie de l’affect : une théorie qui n’oppose pas les affects à l’intentionnalité, qui ne les considère pas seulement comme un sens, mais comme une force, en cultivant des agentivités affectives plutôt qu’en constituant des contenus de sens statiques. Ensuite, j’affirmerai qu’en mettant en premier plan le rôle de l’affect chez ces deux penseurs, nous pouvons comprendre les innovations qu’apporte le schéma historico-racial, en anticipant et en influençant les théories féministes du tournant affectif – surtout la théorie de Sara Ahmed au sujet des économies affectives. Le schéma historico-racial établit la constitution d’agentivités affectives sur une échelle sociogénique, et ces économies affectives expliquent à leur tour la possibilité d’une dégradation du schéma corporel en schéma épidermique racial, une disjonction de l’intentionnalité affective que Fanon appelle « tétanisation affective ».Quali risorse può offrire la nozione merleau-pontiana di schema corporeo a quella di Fanon? In primo luogo, mi propongo di mostrare che la teoria dello schema corporeo elaborata da Merleau-Ponty è allo stesso tempo una teoria dell’affetto: una teoria che non oppone la dimensione degli affetti all’intenzionalità, poiché li considera non solo come senso ma come forze, in quanto implicano delle agentività affettive piuttosto che costituire meri contenuti statici di senso. Intendo quindi sostenere che mettendo in evidenza il ruolo dell’affetto in questi due autori sia possibile comprendere il portato innovativo dello schema storico-razziale, che anticipa e influenza le teorie femministe legate all’affective turn – e in particolare la teoria delle economie affettive elaborata da Sara Ahmed. Lo schema storico-razziale afferma la costituzione di agentività affettive a un livello sociogenetico, mentre le economie affettive rendono conto della possibilità del collasso dello schema corporeo in uno schema razziale epidermico, una disgiunzione dell’intenzionalità affettiva che Fanon definisce “tetanizzazione affettiva”.

scholarly journals tDCS Modulation of Visually Induced Analgesia

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2419-2427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Mancini ◽  
Nadia Bolognini ◽  
Patrick Haggard ◽  
Giuseppe Vallar
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Analgesic Effects ◽  
Extrastriate Visual Cortex ◽  
Multisensory Interactions ◽  
The Right

Multisensory interactions can produce analgesic effects. In particular, viewing one's own body reduces pain levels, perhaps because of changes in connectivity between visual areas specialized for body representation, and sensory areas underlying pain perception. We tested the causal role of the extrastriate visual cortex in triggering visually induced analgesia by modulating the excitability of this region with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS (2 mA, 10 min) was administered to 24 healthy participants over the right occipital or over the centro-parietal areas thought to be involved in the sensory processing of pain. Participants were required to rate the intensity of painful electrical stimuli while viewing either their left hand or an object occluding the left hand, both before and immediately after tDCS. We found that the analgesic effect of viewing the body was enhanced selectively by anodal stimulation of the occipital cortex. The effect was specific for the polarity and the site of stimulation. The present results indicate that visually induced analgesia may depend on neural signals from the extrastriate visual cortex.

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