The pre-reflective experience of “I” as a continuously existing being: The role of temporal functional binding

Measuring the sense of self in brain-damaged patients: A STROBE-compliant article

Recently, researchers have focused on the embodied sense of self (ESS), which consists of the minimal and narrative selves. Although a study demonstrated that the ESS is related to brain dysfunction empirically, the subjective aspects of the ESS, and a systematic approach to it, have not yet been examined in brain-damaged patients. To examine this, we measured the ESS of patients with brain tumors before and after awake craniotomy.A self-reported questionnaire called the Embodied Sense of Self Scale (ESSS) was used to measure the ESS in patients with brain tumors before and after surgery. For comparison, age-matched controls also completed the ESSS.The ESSS scores of the patients with brain tumors before surgery were higher than those of the controls and improved after surgery. Before surgery, patients with left hemispheric lesions had a poorer ESSS than those with right hemispheric lesions. Episodic memory disturbance was highly correlated with malfunction of narrative self and ownership.Brain lesions were associated with anomalous ESSS, associated with hemispheric laterality and cognitive dysfunction.

When the dissolution of perceived body boundaries elicits happiness: The effect of selflessness induced by a body scan meditation

Drawing on the Self-centeredness/Selflessness Happiness Model (SSHM), we hypothesized that a reduction in the salience of perceived body boundaries would lead to increase optimal emotional experience. These constructs were assessed by means of self-report measures. Participants (n=53) were randomly assigned to either the selflessness (induced by a body scan meditation) condition or the control condition. As expected, the reduction in perceived body salience was greater in the body scan meditation condition than in the control condition. The change in perceived body salience was accompanied by a change in happiness and anxiety. Participants in the body-scan meditation condition reported greater happiness and less anxiety than participants in the control condition. Happiness increased when the salience of body boundaries decreased. Mediation analyses reveal that the change in happiness was mediated by the change in perceived body boundaries, which suggests that selflessness elicits happiness via dissolution of perceived body boundaries.

Development of Embodied Sense of Self Scale (ESSS): Exploring Everyday Experiences Induced by Anomalous Self-Representation

The scientific exploration of the self has progressed, with much attention focused on the Embodied Sense of Self (ESS). Empirical studies have suggested the mechanisms for self-representation. On the other hand, less attention has been paid to the subjectivity itself of the self. With reference to previous studies, the current study collected items that reflect the ESS and statistically extracted three factors for it: Ownership, Agency, and Narrative. The developed questionnaire [Embodied Sense of Self Scale (ESSS)] showed good enough validity and reliability for practical use. Furthermore, ESSS discriminated schizophrenia, a disorder of the ESS, from controls. We discuss the factorial structure of ESS and the relationship among factors on the basis of the current results.

Exploring the Behavioral, Experiential, and Conceptual Dimensions of the Self

Abstract. The self has become a prominent field of research in psychology but despite its eminent first-person character, it is typically studied from a third-person perspective. Such a third-person approach is well suited to enquire into the behavioral expression of the sense of selfhood but it does not capture the core experience – the so-called qualia nature – of the self. In the current article we illuminate the challenges that a predominant third-person approach poses to an understanding of the self. We outline two levels of analysis that can complement and enrich a third-person, behavior-focused view, namely the level of experience and the level of conceptual insight. Both these additional levels are accessible via a first-person mode of enquiry and can reveal a degree of richness about the self that reaches beyond a third-person approach. We here provide a methodological justification for such a qualitative mode of enquiry, as well as a synopsis of findings from our own first-person research which involved introspective reports of the authors’ experiences during meditation on geometrical shapes, words, and short phrases.