Does the Controllability of the Body Schema Predict Equilibrium in Elderly People? Characteristics of Relationships from a Lifelong Development Perspective

AbstractSituational or persistent body fluid deficit (i.e., de- or hypo-hydration) is considered a significant health risk factor. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) has been suggested as an alternative to less reliable subjective and biochemical indicators of hydration status. The present study aimed to compare various BIA models in the prediction of direct measures of body compartments associated with hydration/osmolality. Fish (n = 20) was selected as a biological model for physicochemically measuring proximate body compartments associated with hydration such as water, dissolved proteins, and non-osseous minerals as the references or criterion points. Whole-body and segmental/local impedance measures were used to investigate a pool of BIA models, which were compared by Akaike Information Criterion in their ability to accurately predict the body components. Statistical models showed that ‘volumetric-based’ BIA measures obtained in parallel, such as distance2/Rp, could be the best approach in predicting percent of body moisture, proteins, and minerals in the whole-body schema. However, serially-obtained BIA measures, such as the ratio of the reactance to resistance and the resistance adjusted for distance between electrodes, were the best fitting in predicting the compartments in the segmental schema. Validity of these results should be confirmed on humans before implementation in practice.

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Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy (RAAT). Criteria and Types of Experiments Using Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Robots. Review of the Research

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21113720 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3720

Author(s):

Barbara Szymona ◽

Marcin Maciejewski ◽

Robert Karpiński ◽

Kamil Jonak ◽

Elżbieta Radzikowska-Büchner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Schema ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

The Body ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Robot Assisted ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Joint Activities ◽

Autism Therapy ◽

Real Person ◽

Future Work

Supporting the development of a child with autism is a multi-profile therapeutic work on disturbed areas, especially understanding and linguistic expression used in social communication and development of social contacts. Previous studies show that it is possible to perform some therapy using a robot. This article is a synthesis review of the literature on research with the use of robots in the therapy of children with the diagnosis of early childhood autism. The review includes scientific journals from 2005–2021. Using descriptors: ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), Social robots, and Robot-based interventions, an analysis of available research in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science was done. The results showed that a robot seems to be a great tool that encourages contact and involvement in joint activities. The review of the literature indicates the potential value of the use of robots in the therapy of people with autism as a facilitator in social contacts. Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy (RAAT) can encourage child to talk or do exercises. In the second aspect (prompting during a conversation), a robot encourages eye contact and suggests possible answers, e.g., during free conversation with a peer. In the third aspect (teaching, entertainment), the robot could play with autistic children in games supporting the development of joint attention. These types of games stimulate the development of motor skills and orientation in the body schema. In future work, a validation test would be desirable to check whether children with ASD are able to do the same with a real person by learning distrust and cheating the robot.

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

Perception ◽

10.1068/p5853 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 36 (10) ◽

pp. 1547-1554 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

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.

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Cognitive-Affective Neuroscience of Depersonalization

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s109285290002352x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (9) ◽

pp. 467-471 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Dan J. Stein ◽

Daphne Simeon

Keyword(s):

Sensory Processing ◽

Emotional Experience ◽

Emotional Responses ◽

Body Schema ◽

The Body ◽

Affective Neuroscience ◽

Evolutionary Perspective ◽

Limbic Structures ◽

Molecular Systems ◽

Depersonalization Disorder

ABSTRACTDepersonalization disorder (DPD) is characterized by a subjective sense of detachment from one's own being and a sense of unreality. An examination of the psychobiology of depersonalization symptoms may be useful in understanding the cognitive-affective neuroscience of embodiment. DPD may be mediated by neurocircuitry and neurotransmitters involved in the integration of sensory processing and of the body schema, and in the mediation of emotional experience and the identification of feelings. For example, DPD has been found to involve autonomic blunting, deactivation of sub-cortical structures, and disturbances in molecular systems in such circuitry. An evolutionary perspective suggests that attenuation of emotional responses, mediated by deactivation of limbic structures, may sometimes be advantageous in response to inescapable stress.

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Body Schema and Body Image

10.1093/oso/9780198851721.001.0001 ◽

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.

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The Physical Body Experiences Questionnaire Simplified for Active Aging (PBE-QAG)

Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health ◽

10.2174/1745017901814010070 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 70-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Giulia Cossu ◽

Emilio Loi ◽

Mauro Giovanni Carta ◽

Alessia Bramanti

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Elderly People ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Body Awareness ◽

The Body ◽

Active Aging ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Physical Body ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Body Experiences

Background: The physical activity has been indicated as an experience that can help achieve positive, self-oriented own body awareness. This awareness is an aspect that tends to get worse with age. Objective: Our study aims to verify the internal consistency of a questionnaire on physical awareness in a sample of Italian elders; a secondary objective is to measure if there is a relationship between physical awareness and perceived level of physical activity. Methods: Cross sectional study on a consecutive sample of elderly people was administered the “Physical Body Experiences Questionnaire simplified for active aging (PBE-QAG)”, inspired by the “Physical Body Experiences Questionnaire”, modified, simplified and adapted to be used in the elderly over 65. To elderly people the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha was also used to assess internal reliability of the total PBE-QAG. The factor structure was evaluated through Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs). Results: The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.8 for the “body-mind relationship” scale, 0.81 for the “accepting your body” scale, 0.83 for the “awareness of physical skills” scale, and 0.65 for the “awareness of physical limits” scale. Cronbach’s alpha for the total PBE-QAG was 0.89. The CFA indicated a model with the 4 factors (CFI = 0.989, TLI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.076). People who conducted physical activity assiduously or regularly and over 10 minutes showed a better score to the PBE-QAG than those who declared a sporadic activity and for “less than 10 minute”, respectively. Conclusion: Our study revealed that the PBE-QAG shows an excellent total internal consistency. In the Italian sample of elderly people the questionnaire shows the model with the 4 factors described in literature.

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ASO Visual Abstract: Functional Cerebral MRI Evaluation of the Integration of Breast Reconstruction into the Body Schema

Annals of Surgical Oncology ◽

10.1245/s10434-021-11147-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Claudia Régis ◽

Marie-Cécile Le Deley ◽

Emilie Bogart ◽

Clémence Leguillette ◽

Loic Boulanger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Reconstruction ◽

Body Schema ◽

The Body ◽

Cerebral Mri ◽

Mri Evaluation

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Nutrition and Healthy Aging: Prevention and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13124337 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 4337

Author(s):

Neri Maria Cristina ◽

d’Alba Lucia

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Elderly People ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽

The Body ◽

Fundamental Aspect ◽

Effective Prevention

Nutritional well-being is a fundamental aspect for the health, autonomy and, therefore, the quality of life of all people, but especially of the elderly. It is estimated that at least half of non-institutionalized elderly people need nutritional intervention to improve their health and that 85% have one or more chronic diseases that could improve with correct nutrition. Although prevalence estimates are highly variable, depending on the population considered and the tool used for its assessment, malnutrition in the elderly has been reported up to 50%. Older patients are particularly at risk of malnutrition, due to multiple etiopathogenetic factors which can lead to a reduction or utilization in the intake of nutrients, a progressive loss of functional autonomy with dependence on food, and psychological problems related to economic or social isolation, e.g., linked to poverty or loneliness. Changes in the aging gut involve the mechanical disintegration of food, gastrointestinal motor function, food transit, intestinal wall function, and chemical digestion of food. These alterations progressively lead to the reduced ability to supply the body with adequate levels of nutrients, with the consequent development of malnutrition. Furthermore, studies have shown that the quality of life is impaired both in gastrointestinal diseases, but especially in malnutrition. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of malnutrition in elderly people is necessary to promote the knowledge of age-related changes in appetite, food intake, homeostasis, and body composition in order to better develop effective prevention and intervention strategies to achieve healthy aging.

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Mental motor imagery and the body schema: evidence for proprioceptive dominance

Neuroscience Letters ◽

10.1016/j.neulet.2004.07.053 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 370 (1) ◽

pp. 19-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 91

Author(s):

Jeffrey T. Shenton ◽

John Schwoebel ◽

H. Branch Coslett

Keyword(s):

Motor Imagery ◽

Body Schema ◽

The Body

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