The development of body representations: an associative learning account

Klerk, Carina de; Filippetti, Maria Laura; Rigato, Silvia

doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.0070

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…As well as these findings on size, we found that in this paradigm the effects of visuotactile synchrony grew with age. Children therefore use multisensory information differently to adults in establishing ownership over a body part, supporting recent theories 42 that own-body representation develops over a prolonged developmental period, as a result of significant multisensory experience.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

The role of hand size in body representation: a developmental investigation

Cowie

Gottwald

Bird

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Knowledge of one’s own body size is a crucial facet of body representation, both for acting on the environment and perhaps also for constraining body ownership. However, representations of body size may be somewhat plastic, particularly to allow for physical growth in childhood. Here we report a developmental investigation into the role of hand size in body representation (the sense of body ownership, perception of hand position, and perception of own-hand size). Using the rubber hand illusion paradigm, this study used different fake hand sizes (60%, 80%, 100%, 120% or 140% of typical size) in three age groups (6- to 7-year-olds, 12- to 13-year-olds, and adults; N = 229). We found no evidence that hand size constrains ownership or position: participants embodied hands which were both larger and smaller than their own, and indeed judged their own hands to have changed size following the illusion. Children and adolescents embodied the fake hands more than adults, with a greater tendency to feel their own hand had changed size. Adolescents were particularly sensitive to multisensory information. In sum, we found substantial plasticity in the representation of own-body size, with partial support for the hypothesis that children have looser representations than adults.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

The role of hand size in body representation: a developmental investigation

Cowie

Gottwald

Bird

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…This work suggests that somatotopy in S1 arises in part through 14 Hebbian processes that result in spatial correspondences between body parts and the representations of these body parts in somatosensory cortex. In turn, this line of thinking has guided a wider theoretical account of the development of body representations that relies heavily on associative processes (de Klerk et al, 2021). However, there are at least two reasons to sound a note of caution about this reliance.…”

Section: The Development Of Body Maps In the Infant Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Biologically Coherent Account of the Brain and How it Develops

Marshall

2024

Preprint

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As the sophistication and reach of neuroscience methods increase, it is important to understand the implications of different conceptualizations of brain function. Considering the evolution of the vertebrate brain illustrates how brain function must always be considered in the context of the goal-directed activity of the organism. The brain does not simply mediate between stimulus and response but is instead part of a reafferent loop that begins and ends with the activity of the organism. However, this emphasis on the inherently active individual is lost if we adopt a view of the brain as a computational device that passively processes input delivered to it from an external world. In this latter view, the organism is instructed by external information, but this approach fails to appreciate that the origin of all information reaching the brain is the activity of the organism itself. Related conceptual confusions about the nature of information characterize accounts of brain development that rely on the notion of instructions encoded in DNA. A more biologically coherent approach to brain development comes from theorizing in embodiment that emphasizes the inherent activity of the organism in the context of the wider developmental system.

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“…Although we can label M. and A.’s behaviors as part of general diagnostic features of ASD, such as hyper/hypo-reactions to sensory stimuli and repetitive and restricted behaviors, it would be more informative to focus on the underlying neurocognitive processes and wonder about their consequences on each child’s sensory, motor, social, and cognitive development. For instance, both children seem to have atypical body representations, which can be defined as “the ability to integrate multisensory (visual, proprioceptive, and tactile) bodily information into coherent representations of one’s own body” [ 68 ] (p. 1). The basic processes underlying body perception are now known to be present from birth, with newborns preferring synchronous rather than asynchronous visuo-tactile stimulation only when the visual stimulus has the typical configuration of infant bodies [ 69 ].…”

Section: Practical Example: the Bodily Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimedia Interventions for Neurodiversity: Leveraging Insights from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience to Build an Innovative Practice

2022

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Multimedia technologies and virtual reality offer unique possibilities to manipulate sensory, motor, interpersonal, and cognitive processes contributing to atypical developmental trajectories, thus holding an explosive potential to design innovative and engaging interventions. However, there has been little progress in developing interventions that go beyond the patient’s diagnosis or the fascination of technology and rather spring from a deep understanding of the specific neuropsychological processes to be nurtured in individuals. This perspective paper outlines how recent insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience can be leveraged to promote children’s multidimensional development and highlight future directions and challenges for innovating both research and clinical practice. Finally, we focus on some practical examples of multimedia and virtual reality activities we have designed to stimulate bodily-self experiences, which are crucial for building up a coherent sense of self and lay the foundation for interacting with the external world. Atypical bodily self is an early marker of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions (such as autism spectrum disorders) and seems to be under-targeted in research and clinical approaches.

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The development of body representations: an associative learning account

Cited by 20 publications

References 100 publications

The role of hand size in body representation: a developmental investigation

The role of hand size in body representation: a developmental investigation

Towards a Biologically Coherent Account of the Brain and How it Develops

Multimedia Interventions for Neurodiversity: Leveraging Insights from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience to Build an Innovative Practice

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