Body image (neuroscience)

Body image is a complex construct, often used in the clinical context of describing a patient's cognitive perception of their own body. The medical concept began with the work of the Austrian neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst Paul Schilder, described in his book The Image and Appearance of the Human Body first published in 1935. The term “body image” was officially introduced by Schilder himself and his widely used definition is: “body image is the picture of our own body we form in our mind, that is to say the way in which the body appears to ourselves”. In research with the term “body image” we currently refer to a conscious mental representation of one’s own body, which involves affects, attitudes, perceptual components and cognition. On the contrary the term “body schema” was initially used to describe an unconscious body mental representation fundamental for action. Keizer and colleagues (2013) suggest the following definition: “[body schema is] an unconscious, sensorimotor, representation of the body that is invoked in action. In light of recent scientific developments regarding the multisensory integration of body sensations, the distinction between body image and body schema appears simplistic and probably no longer useful for scientific research and clinical purposes.

Clinical significance
In the clinical setting, body image disturbances are relatively frequent and involve both psychiatric and neurological disorders. Disturbances in the perception of one's body are present in psychiatric disorders such as:


 * anorexia nervosa
 * bulimia nervosa
 * binge eating disorder
 * psychotic spectrum disorders
 * body dysmorphic disorder
 * body integrity dysphoria (not included in DSM-5).
 * Cotard delusion

Body image disorders are common in eating disorders and are referred to as "body image disturbance.

Disturbances in the body image are also present in neurological conditions such as:


 * somatoparaphrenia
 * unilateral neglect
 * Alice in Wonderland syndrome