Body Schema Self-Awareness and Related Dream Content Modifications in Amputees Due to Cancer

An Overview of the Bodily Awareness Representation and Interoception: Insights and Progress in the Field of Neurorehabilitation Research

In the last two decades, the scientific literature on so-called body representations has been increasing, and the notion of body awareness (BA) is particularly interesting for neurorehabilitation. In this article, we present results derived from recent studies on this representation, considering the different definitions and explicative models proposed as well as the empirical settings used to test it, providing an extensive overview of these issues. This article discusses the challenge of understanding how we integrate the sensory experiences of proprioception (knowing where our body is in space) and interoception (sensing internal bodily sensations, like hunger of thirst) with our perception of self. This is a difficult problem to analyze because our awareness of our body is inherently linked to our perspective, since the body is the means through which we interact with the world. Presenting the different viewpoints offered by recent theories on this concern, we highlighted that the neurorehabilitation and psychiatric settings offer two important fields useful for the study of BA because in them it is possible to analyze bodily representations by inducing/observing a controlled discrepancy between dysfunctional content and sensory inputs.

Relationship between Body Schema and Scholar Maturity: A Study from the National College of Banat in Timisoara, Romania

The purpose of this study is to analyze the role and importance of specific physical exercises in the development of the body schema in preparatory class pupils and its effect on the development of maturity. Methods: The experiment took place over a period of 10 weeks in which two physical education lessons per week were scheduled; the lessons include specific themes for the development of the body schema and contain exercises to arouse pupils’ interest in sports and physical activities from this age. A number of 150 pupils aged between 5 years and 6 months and 7 years and 6 months participated in the experiment. The pupils were divided into two groups: the experimental group (76 pupils, 32 boys and 34 girls) and the control group (74 pupils, 31 boys and 33 girls). Next, the “Draw-a-Person” Test was applied at the beginning and end of the experiment. Results: The analysis of the results highlights the fact that after completing the intervention plan there is a significant improvement in the results of the experimental group on the Maturity Scale and implicitly on the three development scales: Head Scale, Body Schema Scale, and Clothing Scale. Among the three scales, the Body Schema Scale has the greatest influence on the Maturity Scale (r = 0.841). Conclusions: The preparatory class produces a connection between the kindergarten and the school; furthermore, the physical education lessons with an emphasis on the development of the body scheme contribute to the development of maturity and school preparation of the pupils.