title: Bodily self-consciousness, and the primacy of self related signals such as the 1(st) person perspective and self-location.
abstract: Abstract G&K provide a new and interesting perspective on consciousness, by arguing that consciousness is a product of social perception. Based on the overlap between the neural mechanisms underlying spatial awareness of other people and oneself, out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and social perception the authors argue that consciousness is based on the brain signals that represent other people and their spatial awareness. Although we generally welcome the authors efforts, we (1) would like to emphasize that consciousness has two distinct spatial aspects, namely self-location and first-person perspective, (2) cite evidence about distinct developmental and brain mechanisms concerning first- versus third-person perceptions and cogitations and (3) argue for a primacy of multisensory own body perception over social perception and awareness as a neurobiological foundation of consciousness.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience , Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Elk
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blanke