Body Perception in Relation to Muscular Tone at Rest and Tactile Sensitivity to Tickle

1983 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vezio Ruggieri ◽  
Maria Milizia ◽  
Nicoletta Sabatini ◽  
Maria Teresa Tosi

Two aspects of body image (body perception and body acceptance), muscle tone at test, and disposition to perceive positively connoted stimuli (tickle) were studied with 35 female subjects. Our hypothesized relation of muscle tension and body perception was confirmed by an inverse correlation between these variables. Also evident was the link of the good acceptance of the body with the disposition to perceive pleasurable stimuli (tickle perception) longer and the link of level of body awareness and resistance to change (latency to tickle). Also a direct relationship between body perception and body acceptance emerged.

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josée Lachance ◽  
Geneviève Emond ◽  
Florence Vinit

This article focuses on the bodily engagement of professionals in the context of formative adult education. It examines how the body can be lived and sensed from different angles, based on two experiential studies: one with student-teachers, in somatic education, and one with physicians, based on Awakening the Sensible Being. The research results are compared to demonstrate how participants engage in their relationships with themselves and with others and how this enriches their coherence. The research suggests that teaching body perception can be as beneficial for teachers and physicians as it is for their students and patients. In our findings, it seems that body awareness and consciousness allow professionals to process information that is not available through other channels, enabling them to offer services that respond more humanely to the demands and needs. With body awareness, they can move toward a more grounded and coherent professional practice.


Author(s):  
Andrea Poli ◽  
Angelo Giovanni Icro Maremmani ◽  
Carlo Chiorri ◽  
Gian-Paolo Mazzoni ◽  
Graziella Orrù ◽  
...  

Body awareness disorders and reactivity are mentioned across a range of clinical problems. Constitutional differences in the control of the bodily state are thought to generate a vulnerability to psychological symptoms. Autonomic nervous system dysfunctions have been associated with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Though interoception may be a transdiagnostic mechanism promoting the improvement of clinical symptomatology, few psychometrically sound, symptom-independent, self-report measures, informed by brain–body circuits, are available for research and clinical use. We validated the Italian version of the body perception questionnaire (BPQ)—short form and found that response categories could be collapsed from five to three and that the questionnaire retained a three-factor structure with items reduced from 46 to 22 (BPQ-22). The first factor was loaded by body awareness items; the second factor comprised some items from the body awareness scale and some from the subdiaphragmatic reactivity scale (but all related to bloating and digestive issues), and the third factor by supradiaphragmatic reactivity items. The BPQ-22 had sound psychometric properties, good convergent and discriminant validity and test–retest reliability and could be used in clinical and research settings in which the body perception assessment is of interest. Psychometric findings in light of the polyvagal theory are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Campos ◽  
Nuno Rocha ◽  
Fernando Barbosa

This study included an online community-sample (n = 515) and aimed to: (1) explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the European Portuguese versions of the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS) and the Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ) - Body Awareness and Autonomic Reactivity scales; (2) examine the association between self-reported interoceptive attention and accuracy (indexed by the BPQ Body Awareness and IAS, respectively). Parallel-analysis indicated a one-factor solution for the BPQ Body Awareness. For the IAS and BPQ Autonomic Reactivity, bifactor ESEM models were retained. Ancillary measures revealed that both scales were mainly unidimensional and presented reliable total scores. All scales displayed excellent internal consistency, although test-rest reliability was modest. There was a quadratic U-shaped association between the IAS and BPQ Body Awareness. Alexithymia was negatively correlated with the IAS and unassociated with the BPQ Body Awareness. These findings suggest that interoceptive attention and accuracy may be dissociated using self-report questionnaires.


2006 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAGNAR VIIR ◽  
KARI LAIHO ◽  
JEVGENIJ KRAMARENKO ◽  
MARJA MIKKELSSON

The goal of this paper is to examine the trapezius muscle tone by measuring simultaneously using Myoton-2 myometer i.e., the natural oscillation frequency, stiffness and the elasticity of the trapezius muscle. With this method, the mechanical response of the muscle, to a short applied mechanical impulse, is registered by an acceleration probe. From the acquired damped natural oscillation waveform, the frequency (Hz), the stiffness (N/m) and the logarithmic decrement of damping (characterizing tissue's elasticity) are calculated, quantifying the functional state of the muscle. The trapezius muscle on both sides of the body was tested in twenty adult women by two investigators using the Myoton-2 myometer. During the measurements, the subjects were in a relaxed sitting position. The Bland and Altman graphical test, comparing the differences of the measurements of two investigators, was used for assessing the inter-observer repeatability. The registered values for the trapezius muscle tension, stiffness and elasticity are varying between the tested subjects, but the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was near 1 for three muscular properties, showing that the variation within the subject (due to the investigator) is negligible, compared with the variation between the subjects.


Author(s):  
R. A. Yakupov ◽  
G. I. Safiullina ◽  
A. A. Safiullina ◽  
E. R. Burganov

Introduction. Modern sports places high demands on the functional systems of the body at all stages of the training and competitive processes. High loads create signifi cant background for the occurrence of musculoskeletal diseases, among which the myofascial syndrome (MFS) holds the leading position. MFS negatively affects the functional readiness of the sportsman′s body and is a risk factor for injuries of the musculoskeletal system. In this regard, timely treatment of MFS is important. It creates the conditions for the improvement of sports achievements, for health maintenance and sports longevity. Treatment of patients with MFS should include methods that normalize trophism and muscle tone. Given the problem of doping, the use of non-drug methods, including osteopathy, is preferable. The goal of research — to develop a system of monitoring and osteopathic correction of myofascial disorders (MFD) and to introduce it into the practice of medical and biological support for sportsmen of different categories and levels during the annual training process.Materials and methods. 93 sportsmen (45 women and 48 men), mean age 22,1±1,1 years, representing diffe rent sports were examined. The essence of the proposed system is regular clinical and electroneurophysiological monitoring of the body condition and preventive correction of myofascial disorders in order to exclude their infl uence on the success of sports activities.Results. It was established that the proposed system of monitoring and osteopathic correction led to a signifi cant reduction in clinical and electroneurophysiological manifestations both in local and in extensive forms of myofascial disorders, which allowed to maintain the optimal functional readiness of sportsmen throughout the entire annual training cycle.Conclusion. The system of monitoring and correction of MFS with the use of osteopathic treatment can be one of the elements of medical and biological support for sportsmen during the annual training process.


Author(s):  
Paula Pryce

Expanding on the notion of “keeping intention,” introduced in Chapter 2, Chapter 5 shows how contemplative Christians refine their capacity to “keep attention” and cultivate “contemplative senses” through formal group rituals, body awareness techniques, and the construction of aesthetic environments. It notes the contemplative Christian concept of the Body of Christ in which individual bodies and the collective body are perceived as interconnected entities with expandable and contractible boundaries. The chapter describes the monastic Daily Office and how non-monastic contemplatives adapt monastic rites to their lives outside monasteries. Introducing the important relationship between agency and habitus in contemplative practice, the chapter also develops a model that explicates the process of changing perception, called “contemplative transformation,” as an ever-moving ritualization between “posture” (intentional cataphatic ritual action and positive knowledge) and “flow” (apophatic, ambiguous “inner gestures” and “unknowing”).


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juyeon Park ◽  
Jennifer Paff Ogle

AbstractWe explored how viewing one’s anthropometric virtual avatar would affect the viewer’s self-body perception through the comparative evaluation of self-concepts—self-esteem and self-compassion, within the framework of allocentric lock theory. We recruited 18 female adults, aged 18–21, who identified themselves to have some level of body image concerns, and who had had no clinical treatment for their body image. Participants were randomly assigned either to the experimental or control group. The experimental group participated in both body positivity program and virtual avatar program, whereas the control group attended the body positivity program, only. The results affirmed that the body positivity program served as a psychological buffer prior to the virtual avatar stimulus. After the virtual avatar experience, the participants demonstrated self-acceptance by lowering their expectation on how they should look like. The findings from exit interviews enriched the quantitative results. This study verified the mechanism of the altered processing of the stored bodily memory by the egocentric sensory input of virtual avatars, and offered practical potential of the study outcomes to be applied in various emerging fields where novel applications of virtual 3D technology are sought, such as fashion e-commerce.


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