Body schema

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Fig. 1. External world and body world

The body scheme is the idea of one's own body in terms of its spatial extension and position in space. It can therefore also be described as "orientation towards one's own body", as Arnold Pick first described it in 1908. As early as 1905, Pierre Bonnier proposed the term "ashematia" for certain coenesthetic disorders. The orientation towards one's own body changes according to the information from the body and the environment. Such information comes about through a wide variety of sensory and sensory stimuli from the periphery of the body ( proprioception ), but ultimately has an imaginary character that is independent of sensory or sensory stimuli, i.e., in contrast to perceptions, it is often without sharp object awareness . Thus the body schema is phenomenologically more to be assigned to the group of ideas than to that of perceptions . The physical orientation is of course also conveyed through social information, including naming the body parts. Social and life-history factors are also decisive (agnostic and amnestic disorders of the body schema ).

The term body scheme is derived from the ancient Greek schèma (σχήμα) = a) posture; Position; Gesture; Face, way of behaving; Decency; b) outside; Shape; Shape; Elevator; Costume; Plan; c) nature; Location; Relationship; Status; Position; d) Constitution of the state; e) word form; Figure of speech.

Definitions

According to Karl Jaspers , the body scheme is part of the body consciousness interpreted from the point of view of Dasein . The body scheme is to be described with the perception of the spatial image that we have of ourselves. Jaspers distinguishes sensual perceptions from ideas

  • through the imagery of the imagination versus the corporeality of the perception
  • through the appearance of the imagination in the inner imaginary space versus the perception in the outer objective space
  • through the indefinite and incomplete drawing of the imagination versus the definite and complete drawing of the perception in all details
  • through the sometimes inadequate representation of ideas compared to the sensual freshness of perceptions
  • through the instability of fluttering and dissolving ideas versus the constancy and reproducibility of perceptions
  • through the activity of ideas versus the partial passivity of perceptions. Spontaneity of ideas through active decision-making of the will and emotion, cf. a. Subject-object split .

The body schema was scientifically described by Arnold Pick (1908), Henry Head (1926) and Paul Schilder .

The concept of the body schema is also based on a number of esoteric views, such as B. the Enneagram or the doctrine of the chakras . In the Enneagram, the body scheme is limited to the so-called body centers such as the head, heart and abdomen; in the chakra theory it is extended to a total of seven body sections. The decisive factor in these theories is the psychophysical correlation.

Anatomy, physiology, psychology

The interplay between the perception of the outside world and the physical world is a fundamental human tension (Fig. 1), which is not only important in anatomy and physiology , but also in psychology , cf. also the conceptual opposites of exteroception and proprioception as well as extraversion and introversion .

Both hemispheres are involved in the objective preverbal recognition process. Therefore, damage to one hemisphere of the brain can also lead to Gnostic disturbances both for the objective environment and for parts of the own body. With language development and communication through spoken and written symbols, one half of the brain becomes dominant. This language-dominant hemisphere is exclusively reserved for recognizing and expressing symbols. The body scheme developed by her remains as a whole even after the loss of a limb.

Due to the anatomically verifiable somatotopic structure of the sensorimotor cortical regions of the brain, the question arises as to whether the cerebral integration capacity, which must be assumed as a prerequisite for an intact body diagram, is also referred to as the autotopic homunculus in analogy to the sensorimotor structure (Fig. 2) and can be demonstrated can. This integration achievement is often tied to the highest centers of the cerebral cortex. Even the primary receptive (sensitive) cortical fields (primary fields, primary cortical fields) into which the sensory-motor stimuli from the periphery are projected and which are processed there first represent "a kind of scaled-down model of certain peripheral body regions consisting of brain matter". This task however, the integration and coordination apparently takes place in three different stages from the primary fields to the tertiary association fields of the dominant hemisphere ( areas 39 and 40 and probably also area 37). When clarifying the question of whether there is also a structured somatotopic substrate for the body schema, certain doubts are appropriate. There are reasons to assume that this is a purely functional interplay of the various non-topically structured brain fields, since this function can be disturbed even when fatigued. The late development of areas 37, 39 and 40 in terms of life history also supports this assumption. The Roche Medical Lexicon describes the sphere of body feeling (sensitive cortex) as partially somatotopically structured, since the connections to the (primary) somatotopically and segmentally structured cortical field of the postcentral gyrus must also be taken into account. Nonetheless, in herds in the (right) dominant parietal region, the left half of the body is neglected ( neglect ). The patient then takes z. B. not the paralysis of his left-sided limbs or blindness is true ( anosognosia , Anton's syndrome). Even without paralysis, pronounced neuropsychological disorders can occur. Similar observations can also be made in the case of ego disorders (e.g. depersonalization ). Here, too, there are evidently localizing neuronal indications for the representation of an ego required by psychology, but no special brain center, since these tasks are obviously too differentiated and varied.

Fig. 2. Homunculus: division of the motor / sensory cortex

Disorders of the body schema

If peripheral information fails, e.g. B. due to paralysis or amputation of limbs, body schema disorders are common and also associated with other disorders, for example with agnostic disorders such as anosognosia or with phantom pain . Disorders of the body scheme are also referred to as autotopagnosia or, for short, autopagnosia. These disorders can also appear as focus symptoms in the event of damage in the area of association . Disturbances of the body schema are often associated with apractical and agnostic linguistic deficits and are therefore often based on damage to the dominant hemisphere of the brain, which is more or less exclusively responsible for linguistic gnostic and practical language performance. The body diagram is clinically tested through the linguistic assignment of the names of body sections and as movement skills.

The case of Ian Waterman is an example of the disruption of the body's schema through the loss of proprioceptors: Ian Waterman was 19 years old when he fell ill with a virus infection which resulted in the body's own antibodies being produced. These antibodies attacked the proprioceptive nerve cells, which led to an irreversible destruction of the proprioceptors, which is called acute sensory neuropathy syndrome. This syndrome made him feel disembodied, but his pain and temperature sensation remained unaffected. He was no longer capable of automated movement processes, he had to control all movement processes consciously and in a controlled manner through his visual input. Only a handful of cases of this syndrome are known worldwide, and that of Ian Waterman is remarkable in that he is the only one who has managed to lead a largely independent life.

On the basis of analogous considerations, the term body schema is used to illustrate psychological disorders such as hypochondria or depersonalization . This use of the term goes back to a suggestion by Paul Schilder (1923). In this perspective, self-harming behavior (SVV) is also a common symptom of disturbances in the perception of one's own body. In such cases, various forms of psychotherapy are offered that can be supported with medication .

See also

literature

  • Wilhelm Arnold et al. (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Psychologie. Volume 2: H - Psychodiagnostics. Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-508-8 , Sp. 1144.
  • Fritz Broser: Topical and clinical diagnostics of neurological diseases. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich et al. 1981, ISBN 3-541-06572-9 , chap. 10-48, p. 463.
  • Uwe Henrik Peters : Dictionary of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology. With an English and a French glossary. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich et al. 1984, ISBN 3-541-04963-4 , p. 301 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cénesthésiopathie. In: Marcel Garnier : Dictionnaire des Termes techniques de Médecine. 18th edition. Lib.Maloine, Paris 1965, p. 172.
  2. ^ Pierre Bonnier : L'Aschématie. In: Revue de Neurology. vol. 12, 1905, pp. 605-609.
  3. ^ Gustav Eduard Benseler et al.: Greek-German school dictionary . BG Teubner, Leipzig 1911, p. 890.
  4. ↑ Karl Jaspers: General Psychopathology. 9th edition. Springer, Berlin 1973, ISBN 3-540-03340-8 , p. 59 Differentiation between perception and imagination. P. 74 Body Consciousness and Body Scheme
  5. ^ H. Head: Aphasia and kindred disorders of speech . London 1926.
  6. ↑ P. Schilder: The image and appearance of the human body . London 1935.
  7. ^ Walter Siegenthaler : Clinical Pathophysiology. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, p. 923.
  8. ↑ Hans G. Furth : Intelligence and recognition - the foundations of the genetic epistemology of Piaget . 2nd Edition. Frankfurt am Main 1972.
  9. ^ L. Halpern: Problems of dynamic neurology. Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 1963.
  10. ↑ Alfred Benninghoff among others: Textbook of Human Anatomy. Shown with preference given to functional relationships. Volume 3: Nervous system, skin and sensory organs. 7th edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich 1964, p. 242.
  11. ↑ a b c Peter Duus: Neurological-topical diagnostics. 5th edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-13-535805-4 , p. 389 f.
  12. ↑ Alexander Luria : The Working Brain . Penguin, Harmondsworth / Middlesex 1976.
  13. ↑ Norbert Boss (Ed.): Roche Lexicon Medicine. 2nd Edition. Hoffmann-La Roche AG and Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-541-13191-8 , p. 962 f.
  14. ^ Fritz Broser: Topical and clinical diagnosis of neurological diseases. 2nd Edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-541-06572-9 , chap. 10-48, p. 463.
  15. ^ Walter Siegenthaler: Clinical Pathophysiology. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, p. 923.
  16. ↑ J. Cole, A. Oppenheimer (Ed.): Living without Touch and Proprioception. In: The congress papers: exploring the principles: from the 7th International Congress of the FM Alexander Technique, 16-22 August 2004, Oxford, England. STAT Books, 2005, pp. 85-97.
  17. ↑ Paul Schilder: The body scheme. A contribution to the teaching of the awareness of one's own body. Berlin 1923.