1,721,183 research outputs found
Visual and sensorimotor contributions to the esthetic appraisal of body form, motion, and emotion
No full textRecent neuroscience studies indicate that the visual processing of human bodies relies on a cortical network comprising different sensorimotor regions (extrastriate body area [EBA], superior temporal sulcus [STS], parietal cortex [PC], and premotor cortex [PM]). These regions seem to be specifically involved in the processing of morphological (form) and dynamic (movement) cues of the body. Importantly, the integrated activity within the network dedicated to body processing seems to underpin the unified perception of the body and its movements via simulation-like mechanisms ("cold embodiment"). Studies also suggest that regions within the body-related network are involved in the esthetic appreciation of human bodies together with a variety of cortical and subcortical regions associated to the emotional reward coding of stimuli (e.g., the amygdala for fear/disgust and the nucleus accumbens, the insula, and the cingulate cortex for pleasure reward), which may drive a form of "hot embodiment." Thus, the esthetic evaluation of human bodies may rely upon a large cortico-subcortical network. Here we review evidence concerning the role of specific sensorimotor cortical and subcortical regions in the perception of beauty and attractiveness of the body. We conclude that exploring the way in which visual, sensorimotor, affective, and multisensory information in art and ecological life in general perturb our body representations is crucial for understanding the neural foundations of esthetic body appreciation
Trasformare le rappresentazioni mentali e neurali del corpo e del sé.
No full textLa definizione del senso del sè e dell‟identità personale è da sempre argomento di riflessione per filosofi, psicologi e neuro-psichiatri. Solo recentemente le nuove possibilità tecniche delle neuroscienze cognitive hanno consentito di affrontare sperimentalmente il tema e accresciuto le conoscenze sui meccanismi e i circuiti cerebrali che ci rendono capaci di pensare a noi stessi in termini di entità distinte, uniche, capaci di auto-controllo. Il “senso del sé” si fonda sul senso di identità corporea, costruito attraverso l‟integrazione di informazioni multisensoriali inerenti al corpo spazialmente e temporalmente congruenti. Questo scritto descrive recenti ricerche neuro-psicologiche volte a dimostrare come il senso del sé si formi, sia mantenuto, e possa essere alterato per effetto di semplici manipolazioni sperimentali che, sfruttando i meccanismi integrativi multisensoriali attraverso cui il cervello costruisce la rappresentazione del proprio corpo, inducono illusioni di appartenenza di un altro corpo o persino di un altro volto. Considerando che il volto è la caratteristica maggiormente distintiva dell‟identità personale, ci focalizzeremo sugli studi che hanno mostrato come, utilizzando semplici paradigmi psicofisici, è stato possibile indurre cambiamenti plastici della rappresentazione e percezione di sé e del proprio volto, e individuare variabili personologiche e sociali che potenziano e/o contrastano i margini di cambiamento. Questi paradigmi potrebbero rappresentare dunque uno strumento potenzialmente utile in quelle condizioni psicologiche o psichiatriche in cui la rappresentazione di sé o del proprio corpo è disfunzionale (come l‟anoressia o le dismorfofobie) ed aprire la strada allo sviluppo di nuove ricerche nei pazienti con disturbi che riguardano la sfera sociale (come l‟autismo e la fobia sociale)
The body in the brain: neural bases of corporeal awareness.
No full textRecent studies have begun to unravel the brain mechanisms that underlie the mental representation of the body. Imitation of movements by neonates suggests an implicit knowledge of the body structure that antedates the adult body schema. This can include inanimate objects that bear systematic relations to the body, as shown by the elimination from self awareness of a body part and its associated paraphernalia after selective brain lesions. Dynamic aspects of the body schema are revealed by spontaneous sensations from a lost body part as well as by orderly phantom sensations elicited by stimulation of body areas away from the amputation line and even by visual stimulation. The mechanisms of the body schema exhibit stability, since some brain regions seem permanently committed to representing the corresponding body parts in conscious awareness, and plasticity, since brain regions deprived of their natural inputs from a body part become reactive to inputs from other body parts
The body in the brain revisited.
No full textCorporeal awareness is a difficult concept which refers to perception, knowledge and evaluation of one’s own body as well as of other bodies. We discuss here some controversies regarding the significance of the concepts of body schema and body image, as variously entertained by different authors, for the understanding of corporeal awareness, and consider some newly proposed alternatives. We describe some recent discoveries of cortical areas specialized for the processing of bodily forms and bodily actions, as revealed by neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and lesion studies. We further describe new empirical and theoretical evidence for the importance of interoception, in addition to exteroception and proprioception, for corporeal awareness, and discuss how itch, a typical interoceptive input, has been wrongly excluded from the classic concept of the proprioceptive–tactile body schema. Finally, we consider the role of the insular cortex as the terminal cortical station of interoception and other bodily signals, along with Craig’s proposal that the human insular cortex sets our species apart from other species by supporting consciousness of the body and the self. We conclude that corporeal awareness depends on the spatiotemporally distributed activity of many bodies in the brain, none of which is isomorphic with the actual body
Interhemispheric disconnection syndromes
No full text(from the chapter) Describes interhemispheric disconnection syndromes. The concept of disconnection symptoms presupposea that neural functions are localized and that neural connections are specific. However, typical brain lesions interrupt connections between multiple functional substrates, bringing about constellations of symptoms which constitute disconnection syndromes. The authors describe the historical evolution of the concept of the interhemispheric disconnection syndrome, the symptomatology of interhemispheric disconnection (including visual and auditory symptom, motor control, and memory). Temporary unrelated symptoms, such as diagnostic dispraxia and alien hand phenomenon, are also described. The authors also discuss mind and consciousness in the split brain. In conclusion, the authors argue that the overall unitarity and consistency of the behavior of commissurotomized patients is a fact, whereas inferenced that conceived the split brain as a 2-channel processor, or the organ of a double consciousness are not supported by sufficiently convincing evidence. Possible factors that can maintain unitarity in the control of the behavior of commissurotomy patients are described. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved
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