Multisensory representations of the body (BRs) and of the space around it (i.e. Peri-personal space, PPS) depend on the physical structure of the body (PHYBS), in that they are constructed from incoming sensory signals from different body parts. Here we present experimental data showing how changes in the structure or in the function of the physical body plastically modify mental representations of the body and of the PPS. After a sudden lost of a part of the body, namely of an upper limb in amputees, mental representations of the stump and of the space around it modifies. Such representations are further shaped if prostheses are used to replace the lost body part. Body and PPS representations also change after surgery used to elongate limbs in achondroplastic dwarfs. Finally, tools in healthy subjects can be conceived as functional extensions of the physical body, and indeed tool-use is able to plastically modify the perceived dimensions of the body and of the PPS. These data, deriving from different subjects populations and from different physical or functional modifications of the body structure, coherently show high plastic properties in mental body and space representations. Such plasticity suggests that our sense of body is not static and given at once, but it is constantly constructed and adapted through experience.
Plasticity in space and body representations due to changes in the physical body, insights from amputation, elongation surgery and tool-use.
SERINO, ANDREA
2010
Abstract
Multisensory representations of the body (BRs) and of the space around it (i.e. Peri-personal space, PPS) depend on the physical structure of the body (PHYBS), in that they are constructed from incoming sensory signals from different body parts. Here we present experimental data showing how changes in the structure or in the function of the physical body plastically modify mental representations of the body and of the PPS. After a sudden lost of a part of the body, namely of an upper limb in amputees, mental representations of the stump and of the space around it modifies. Such representations are further shaped if prostheses are used to replace the lost body part. Body and PPS representations also change after surgery used to elongate limbs in achondroplastic dwarfs. Finally, tools in healthy subjects can be conceived as functional extensions of the physical body, and indeed tool-use is able to plastically modify the perceived dimensions of the body and of the PPS. These data, deriving from different subjects populations and from different physical or functional modifications of the body structure, coherently show high plastic properties in mental body and space representations. Such plasticity suggests that our sense of body is not static and given at once, but it is constantly constructed and adapted through experience.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.