Body Representation Alterations in Patients with Unilateral Brain Damage

Abstract

Objective: Systematic studies about the impact of unilateral brain damage on the different body representations (body schema, body structural representation, and body semantics) are still rare. Aim of this study was to evaluate body representation deficits in a relatively large sample of patients with unilateral brain damage and to investigate the impact of right or left brain damage on body representations (BRs), independently from deficits in other cognitive processes. Method: Sixty-four patients with unilateral stroke (22 with left brain damage, LBD; 31 with right brain damage without neglect, RBD-N; 11 with right brain damage with neglect, RBD+N) and 41 healthy individuals underwent a specific battery including BR as well as control tasks. Results: In more than a third of the sample, selective (37.5%) and pure (31%) deficits of BR were presented and equally distributed among the different BRs (˜10% for each representation), with selective (27.2%) and pure (22.7%) body schema deficit mainly presented after left brain damage. As a group, patients with unilateral brain damage, independently of the side of lesion (LBD, RBD-N, RBD+N), had significantly worse performance on body structural representation with respect to healthy individuals, whereas LBD had numerically worse performance on body schema with respect to healthy individuals and RBD-N. No significant differences among groups were found on body semantics. Conclusion: BR deficits are not a rare consequence of unilateral brain damage and are independent of a more general cognitive dysfunction. Accordingly, the need for an accurate assessment and specific neuropsychological training in clinical settings is discussed.

From Hemispheric Asymmetry through Sensorimotor Experiences to Cognitive Outcomes in Children with Cerebral Palsy

“…Previous research identified cortical areas responsible for the processing of these three body representation types: the Body Schema was reportedly associated with the posterior parietal cortex, the Body Structural Representation was linked to the ventral lateral occipitotemporal transition, whereas the Body Semantics was related to the insula [244]. Although the hemispheric laterality of body representations and body motion is still unclear [244], previous research suggested that adolescents and adults with left-hemisphere damage (right hemiparetic CP) showed significant deficits in their processing of the Body Schema and Body Structural Representation [159,[245][246][247][248].…”

Editorial: Body Representation and Interoceptive Awareness: Cognitive, Affective, and Social Implications

“…An efficient body representation (BR) is thought to be central to adequately acting in the environment, constructing the sense-of-self, and interacting with others, with important cognitive, affective and social implications (Goldman and de Vignemont, 2009 ; Ferroni et al, 2019 ; Macpherson et al, 2021 ). BR concerns and disturbances can be determined by disorders of interoceptive processing and multisensory integration, and by implicit and explicit habit-body memory deficits, impacting social and cognitive abilities (Besharati et al, 2016 ; Badoud and Tsakiris, 2017 ; Fossataro et al, 2018 ; Riva, 2018 ; Raimo et al, 2022 ).…”

Body Processing in Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury: An Exploratory Study

“…This ability relies on both visual and sensorimotor information [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Efficient visual body processing allows the identification of the morphology, structure, and boundaries of one’s own and others’ body parts [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Previous studies have shown that, similar to face perception [ 15 ], body stimuli are processed through configural and holistic visual perceptual strategies, which are more efficient than detail-based processing adopted for other objects [ 16 ].…”