Perceptual aberrations impair mental own-body transformations.
Dysfunctional self and bodily processing have been reported from the schizophrenia spectrum. Here, the authors tested 72 students (40 women) to determine whether performance in a mental own-body transformation task relates to self-rated frequency of spontaneously experienced schizotypal body schema alterations (perceptual aberration). Participants provided speeded left-right decisions concerning the body of a visually depicted human figure (front view vs. back view). For men, reaction times to disembodied perspectives increased with increasing scores on a validated perceptual aberration scale. This finding constitutes behavioral evidence for the clinically postulated association between aberrant bodily experiences during everyday life and aberrant processing in a mental own-body transformation task arguably reflecting mild dysfunction at the temporo-parietal junction.
Mohr
C
C
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. christine.mohr@bris.ac.uk
Blanke
O
O
Brugger
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult