Swedish translation and psychometric testing of the Self-Conscious Emotions in COPD Questionnaire

Assessment of self-conscious emotions is important to develop tailored interventions for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Previous instruments have largely been developed for mental health populations. The Self-Conscious Emotions in COPD Questionnaire was the first instrument to assess self-conscious emotions in people with COPD, but it was only available in English. The aim was to translate the Self-Conscious Emotions in COPD Questionnaire into Swedish and to evaluate its psychometric properties and internal structure in a Swedish context. The translation process included forward and backward translation, a multidisciplinary meeting, assessment of content validity, and cognitive interviews. The translated instrument was tested in a sample of 173 people with COPD between September 2021 and September 2022. Parallel analysis (PA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and test-retest reliability was performed. The content validity index (CVI) for the instrument was 0.88. Based on the PA, an EFA with a two-factor solution was conducted, with a high Cronbach's alpha (0.786-0.821), and one item about self-blame was excluded. The two factors were labelled: The burden of living with a disability and The desire to hide vulnerability. Test-retest reliability showed no difference between scale scores on factor or item level, except for one item. The Swedish Self-Conscious Emotions in COPD showed good validity and reliability. One item was excluded from the two subscales, indicating that the instrument needs to be further developed to cover the concept of self-blame. The instrument is expected to be a valuable tool for assessing self-conscious emotions in people with COPD.

The relationship between self-consciousness and depression in college students: the chain mediating effect of meaning life and self-efficacy, with the moderating effect of social support

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the impact of self-consciousness on depression of college students, and mainly focus on confirming the mediator role of life meaningful and self-efficacy, as well as the moderator role of social support.

METHODS

In the present study, convenient sampling method was adopted, 583 college students were recruited from Harbin city and Wenzhou city in China. All students were assessed using self-assessment scales, including self-consciousness scale, life meaningful scale, self-efficacy scale, social support scale, and self-rating depression scale. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis, structural equation model analysis were conducted by SPSS 25.0 and M-plus.

RESULTS

Results showed that self-consciousness was negatively related to depression, life meaningful and self-efficacy partially mediated the relation between self-consciousness and depression. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the relation between self-efficacy and depression were moderated bu social support. Compare with college students who had high social support, depression in those with low social support was more susceptible to the effect of self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

These findings imply that college students with low levels of self-consciousness are more easy to be depressive, enhancing their sense of life meaning and self-efficacy can effectively alleviate depression, and college student with high social support can benefit more from self-efficacy. Therefore we should pay more attention to the mental health problems of low levels self-consciousness college students in university.

Self-consciousness mediated the role of the insula in self-disclosure: Evidence from rs-fMRI data

INTRODUCTION

Self-disclosure is integral to forming intimate connections within interpersonal exchanges. While its advantages are widely acknowledged, the cerebral basis of self-disclosure is not thoroughly understood. Insight into its neural underpinnings is crucial for refining therapeutic approaches, especially for challenges associated with self-disclosure.

METHODS

Our study probed the association between spontaneous neural activity, gauged via resting-state fMRI, and self-disclosure tendencies among 258 healthy university students, employing Regional Homogeneity (ReHo) and behavioral correlation analysis. We also explored the mediating effect of self-consciousness on this relationship.

RESULTS

The ReHo-behavior correlation analysis uncovered that higher ReHo values in the insula are predictive of greater self-disclosure in social settings. Additionally, the mediation analysis identified self-consciousness as a partial intermediary between spontaneous neural activity in the insula and self-disclosure behaviors.

CONCLUSION

The findings imply that decreased similarity in the insula during rest-state may amplify self-conscious emotions such as embarrassment, thus illuminating the cognitive processes that underlie disclosure behaviors. Critically, these insights have practical ramifications for enhancing therapeutic methods and communication skills by aiding individuals in navigating self-consciousness obstacles, thereby promoting more transparent and efficacious self-disclosure.

Multisensory Integration in Body Representation

To be aware of and to move one's body, the brain must maintain a coherent representation of the body. While the body and the brain are connected by dense ascending and descending sensory and motor pathways, representation of the body is not hardwired. This is demonstrated by the well-known rubber hand illusion in which a visible fake hand is erroneously felt as one's own hand when it is stroked in synchrony with the viewer's unseen actual hand. Thus, body representation in the brain is not mere maps of tactile and proprioceptive inputs, but a construct resulting from the interpretation and integration of inputs across sensory modalities.

Me, myself and you: How self-consciousness influences time perception

Several investigations have shown that the processing of self-relevant information differs from processing objective information. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of social stimuli on subjective time processing. Here, social stimuli are images of an unknown male and female person and an image of participants' self. Forty university students were tested with a time reproduction task in which they were asked to reproduce the duration of the stimulus previously presented. Images of others or themselves were used to mark the temporal intervals. Participants also performed questionnaires to evaluate the level of anxiety and depression as well as self-consciousness. A generalised linear mixed-effects model approach was adopted. Results showed that male participants with higher Private Self-Consciousness scores showed higher time perception accuracy than females. Also, female participants reported higher scores for the Public Self-Consciousness subscale than male participants. The findings are discussed in terms of social context models of how attention is solicited and arousal is generated by social stimuli, highlighting the effect of social context on subjective perception of time.

Communication as the Origin of Consciousness

Since the middle of the 20th century, more and more data have appeared on the limited role of consciousness in determining human behavior. In this opinion paper, we hypothesize that the basis of consciousness is precisely the communicative function, and discuss relations of consciousness to other cognitive processes such sensory detection, decision-making and emotions. Within the framework of the hypothesis, consciousness is considered as a highly specialized function of the brain, which ensures encoding of personal information as communication messages. On a subjective level, mental representation just means the state of information to be shared in a human group. Accordingly, consciousness affects only those components of human behavior that are associated with the transmission of messages. Sensory detection, decision-making, emotions and other processes are only projected into consciousness during the encoding of information of them. The communication hypothesis assumes that consciousness is an adaptation that increases the efficiency of a collective way of life, and the emergence of consciousness is inextricably linked with the development of language in human culture. In the future, our view of consciousness provides an opportunity for an objective analysis of subjective phenomena by means of a directed study of the formation of messages both at the level of brain processes and at the level of interactions between individuals.

Relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for cancer patients among nursing students: The moderating effects of clinical practice satisfaction

BACKGROUND

Patients with cancer experience physical and mental difficulties that can be relieved with the support and empathy of healthcare professionals. Empathy can be affected by self-consciousness. The clinical performance and interpersonal competence of nursing students are related to their satisfaction with clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the moderating effect of clinical practice satisfaction of nursing students on the relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional descriptive study.

SETTING

Three colleges of nursing in South Korea.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 136 senior nursing students across three universities.

METHODS

The participants completed an online questionnaire on demographic and education-related characteristics, self-consciousness, and empathy competency. We used the Korean versions of the Self-Consciousness Scale and Empathy Construct Rating Scale. The overall response rate was 42.5 %. SPSS PROCESS macro was used to test the moderating role of satisfaction with clinical practice.

RESULTS

Private self-consciousness was significantly associated with clinical practice satisfaction and empathy. The relationship between practice satisfaction and empathy was significantly positive. In addition, the satisfaction of the nursing students with clinical practice moderated the association between private self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer. Empathy was more affected by private self-consciousness among senior nursing students who were less satisfied with clinical practice than among those who were more satisfied with clinical practice.

CONCLUSION

To improve empathy for patients with cancer, educational strategies must be created to improve the private self-consciousness and satisfaction with the clinical practice of nursing students.

Effects of Aerobic-Anaerobic Exercise on Social Avoidance, Positive and Negative Affects, and Self-Consciousness of Obese Women

Background

We aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic-anaerobic exercise on social avoidance, positive and negative emotions, and self-awareness in obese women as well as provide some basis for guiding them to increase their physical exercise and promote physical and mental health.

Methods

Sixty obese women (body mass index≥23 kg/m²) who volunteered to participate in the experiment were selected in Tianjin, China in 2022, and divided into control group and observation group with 30 people in each group. The control group received normal physical training, whereas the observation group received a uniform diet and an aerobic-anaerobic exercise intervention based on normal physical training that lasted for 12 weeks. The changes in the two groups before and after the intervention were compared.

Results

After intervention, the body fat rate and fat weight of obese women in the observation group were significantly decreased, the lean body weight and muscle weight were significantly increased, and the improvement of body composition index was better than those in the control group was (P<0.05). The obese women in the observation group showed lower scores in negative affect and higher scores in positive affect (P<0.05). The obese women in the observation group showed higher scores in comfort, health assessment, satisfaction of body parts, overweight, gregariousness, anxiety, physical appearance and properties, intelligence, school situation, and behavior, while the observation group received lower scores in social avoidance and social distress.

Conclusion

Aerobic-anaerobic exercise has a better role in strengthening the physical exercise and physical and mental development of obese women.

Splitting the Unity of Bodily Self: Toward a Comprehensive Review of Phenomenology and Psychopathology of Heautoscopy

BACKGROUND

Heautoscopy refers to a pathological experience of visual reduplication of one's body with an ambiguous sense of self-location and a disturbing sensation of owning the illusory body. It has been recognized to occur in the course of strikingly diverse psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, space-occupying lesions, frequently of the temporal or parietal lobes, migraine, epilepsy, and depression. The literature on the subject suffers from numerous conceptual inconsistencies, scarcity of clinical data, and a lack of theoretical integratory framework that could explain the uniqueness of these symptoms.

AIMS

In the study, we aimed to review all case reports on heautoscopy we could cull from the literature with an attempt to extract common factors and to foster a theoretical synthesis.

METHODS

All medical and psychological databases were rigorously searched, along with reference lists of the preselected articles. First-person reports were classified according to aspects of bodily self-consciousness primarily affected: body ownership, self-location, sense of agency and consequently, collated with their etiological backgrounds.

RESULTS

Out of over 140 case studies, a total of only 9 patients with heautoscopy were selected as satisfying functional criteria, carefully distinguishing heautoscopy from other typically conflated full-body anomalies: autoscopy, out-of-body experience, or feeling of presence. Numerous cases turned out to be mislabeling autoscopy or out-of-body experience as heautoscopy. In addition, several problems with existing neuroimaging experiments were identified.

CONCLUSION

Phenomenological analysis revealed that from the patients' perspective, heautoscopy resembles a somatesthetic-proprioceptive illusion, rather than a cognitive delusion, and occurs much less frequently than reported. A most peculiar symptom, described by some as a sense of "bilocation," appears to stem from dynamic shifts in self-location and expanded body ownership, rather than an expanded first-person perspective. Although extremely rare in its pure form, heautoscopy gives a unique opportunity to explore the brain limits to the plasticity of bodily boundaries and the origin of the first-person spatial perspective.

Consciousness, philosophy, and neuroscience

The aim of this mini-review paper is to present an overview of work on consciousness from a philosophical perspective, and to argue for the continuing relevance of philosophy in consciousness research. After introducing some major philosophical positions about the relationship between consciousness and matter, we argue that the problem of consciousness that many authors have focused on-the mind-body or mind-brain problem-is only one among several problems of consciousness. We illustrate the idea that the perplexities about consciousness go beyond its relationship with matter by discussing the relationship between consciousness, self-consciousness, and selfhood. This discussion also indicates ways in which philosophy and neuroscience can learn from each other.

The self and its internal thought: In search for a psychological baseline

Self-consciousness is neuronally associated with the brain's default mode network as its "neuronal baseline" while, psychologically the self is characterized by different thought modes and dynamics. We here raise the question whether they reflect the "psychological baseline" of the self. We investigate the psychological relationship of the self with thought modes (rumination, reflection) and mind-wandering dynamics (spontaneous, deliberate), as well as with depressive symptomatology. Our findings show a relationship between self-consciousness and i) mind-wandering dynamics, and ii) thought functional modes, in their respective forms. At the same time, self-consciousness is more related to spontaneous mind-wandering than deliberate and to rumination than reflection. Furthermore, iii) rumination acts as a mediator between self-consciousness and spontaneous mind-wandering dynamics; and iv) the relationship between high levels of self-consciousness and depressive symptoms is mediated by ruminative modes and spontaneous mind-wandering dynamics. Together, these findings support the view of the self as "psychological baseline".

Internet Use and Adolescents' Physical and Mental Health: the Mediating Role of Self-consciousness and Peer Relationships

In recent years, online gaming and cyber pornography have become problematic activities among Internet users. When individuals immerse themselves in these activities, the experience of flow can negatively influence users’ physical and mental health and interpersonal relationships. Thus, this study analyzed the mediating roles of self-consciousness and peer relationships in the relationships between online gaming, cyber pornography, and physical and mental health. We obtained data from fifteen senior high schools in Taiwan (N = 1838 students; first year, 996 students, and second year, 842 students) by conducting a 2-year longitudinal survey. Statistical analyses were performed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that adolescents’ online gaming was positively associated with their physical and mental health; however, it was negatively associated with their self-consciousness. In addition, when they became absorbed in cyber pornography, they lost track of time and lost self-consciousness, and it influenced their peer relationships. Self-consciousness and peer relationships mediated the relationships between cyber pornography and participants’ physical and mental health. We identified relationships between online gaming, cyber pornography, elements of flow, and physical and mental health. The findings of this research can offer guidelines for policy makers and educators who evaluate adolescents’ Internet use and behavior to provide proper access to Internet use and promote by building a healthy Internet environment in educational activities.

Self-consciousness impairments in schizophrenia with and without first rank symptoms using the moving rubber hand illusion

INTRODUCTION

The moving rubber hand illusion allows the evaluation both the sense of body ownership and agency using visuo-motor stimulations.

METHODS

We used the moving rubber hand illusion in anatomic congruence with explicit measures to compare active asynchronous and passive synchronous movements in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia with first rank symptoms (FRS) (n = 31) versus without FRS (n = 25).

RESULTS

Patients with FRS are characterized by a lack of agency in active asynchronous condition. The two groups had no sense of ownership in synchronous passive condition. Using a multivariate regression model, we found an association between agency and body ownership measures in the active asynchronous condition in two groups (OR: 1.825, p < 0.001). In the passive condition, this association was only present in the group with first rank symptoms (OR: 2.04, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Temporal proximity and sensorimotor information are essential in the understanding of self-consciousness disorders in schizophrenia.

Interoception and embodiment in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy

There are tight functional and anatomical links between the vestibular and interoceptive systems, and both systems have shown to fundamentally underlie emotional processes and our sense of a bodily self. Yet, nothing is known about how long-term bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) influences interoception and its relation to embodiment and the sense of self. We thus compared cardiac interoceptive accuracy, confidence in the performance, and general body awareness in 25 BVP patients and healthy controls using a heartbeat tracking task, self-reports about interoceptive awareness, as well as measures of self-localization and of self-body closeness. Results showed no difference between patients and controls regarding interoceptive accuracy, confidence and body awareness, suggesting that long-term BVP does not influence cardiac interoception. Patients and controls did not differ either regarding self-location and self-body closeness. However, in our overall sample of patients and controls, we found that interoceptive accuracy increased with perceived self-body closeness, suggesting that anchoring the self to the body is generally linked with better cardiac interoception. This result is in line with previous suggestions of an important contribution of interoception to the sense of embodiment.

The Body-Threat Assessment Battery (BTAB): A new instrument for the quantification of threat-related autonomic affective responses induced via dynamic movie clips

We present a new instrument for the assessment of responses to threat-related imagery directed towards a human body - the Body-Threat Assessment Battery (BTAB). The BTAB consists of a series of high-definition dynamic clips depicting body-threats and matched non-threat baseline behaviours. For body-threat stimuli a perspective manipulation was included to assess the effects of viewing threats from the point-of-view of the observer (POV) or from an external/exocentric perspective (EXO). Green-screen technology was used so that extraneous background information could be removed and standardised in post-production. Categorical normative data for psychological ratings (valence, arousal and pain), psychophysiological, phasic skin conductance responses (SCRs) and tonic skin conductance levels (SCLs) were obtained for all stimuli. Body-threat stimuli evoked significantly higher psychological ratings of arousal and pain, with more negative ratings of valence, relative to baseline stimuli. In addition, threat stimuli also had an increased efficacy at evoking SCRs, and these were significantly stronger relative to baseline stimuli. There were no effects of perspective on psychophysiological or psychological responses to threat imagery. The findings are discussed in the context of the utility and scope of the BTAB for supporting neurocognitive investigations of aversive imagery and body-threats specifically in the study of embodiment, body-processing and self-consciousness.

Stories of despair: a Kierkegaardian read of suffering and selfhood in survivorship

A life-threatening illness such as cancer can bring about much existential suffering and a disconnect to self in spite of surviving cancer. In my recent research project, I interviewed 14 long-term cancer survivors on being post cancer. Contrary to common assumptions about long-term survivorship, my interviewees reported grave existential difficulties in finding a firm footing in their sense of self, fostering a variety of stories of despair. This article examines long-term cancer survivors' suffering from the vantage point of selfhood and provides a philosophical interpretation of the reintegration of the self by illuminating their stories of despair through the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard's seminal work The Sickness Unto Death. The participating survivors described how the cancer experience had quaked old perceptions of self, instigating them to question the depth of their self-understanding before the cancer and who they really were. In relating to themselves, they realized the dynamic process of becoming who they are by continuing to balance opposing poles within the self. This act of relating to self revealed the limit of the autonomous self in the creation of selfhood. The article intends to illustrate how a philosophical reading of selfhood and suffering in survivorship can inform medicine and inspire models for follow-up cancer care for long-term survivors.

Brain activity associated with the rubber foot illusion

The internal representation of the body is constantly updated by sensory information based on interactions with the environment. The internal representation of the hand can be experimentally manipulated with the rubber hand illusion (RHI) paradigm. Brain activity during the RHI provides insight into the neural mechanisms underpinning the reconstruction of the internal representation of the hand. Recently, the RHI paradigm has been employed for the lower limb, revealing that the illusion is also induced in the lower limb (rubber foot illusion; RFI). However, the neural correlates of the RFI remain unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activity during the RFI. Forty-four healthy volunteers participated in the fMRI experiment. Significant increases in activation were observed in the bilateral medial and middle frontal gyri, left supplemental motor area, bilateral inferior parietal lobuli, precunei, calcarine cortices, and cerebellar hemispheres; and in the vermis and bilateral thalami during the right RFI. During the left RFI, significant increases in activation were observed in the bilateral medial, middle, and superior frontal gyri; left inferior frontal gyrus and supplemental motor area, bilateral inferior parietal lobuli and middle temporal gyri, and in the left cerebellar hemisphere, vermis, and bilateral thalami. Conjunction analysis revealed that the prefrontal cortex including the bilateral medial and middle frontal gyri, parietal cortex including the bilateral inferior parietal lobuli, and cerebellum including the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres and vermis were conjointly activated during the right and left RFIs. The distribution of co-activated brain areas during the RFI was similar to the previously reported distribution of brain areas activated during the RHI. Co-activation of these brain areas may be associated with the reconstruction of the internal representation of the body. The fact that these areas are activated both in the RFI and RHI will have implications for the treatment of patients with disturbed internal bodily representation.

Secondary somatosensory cortex of primates: beyond body maps, toward conscious self-in-the-world maps

Recent human imaging studies have revealed the involvement of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) in processes that require high-level information integration, such as self-consciousness, social relations, whole body representation, and metaphorical extrapolations. These functions are far beyond its known role in the formation of body maps (even in their most complex forms), requiring the integration of different information modalities in addition to somatosensory information. However, no evidence of such complex processing seems to have been detected at the neuronal level in animal experiments, which would constitute a major discrepancy between human and non-human animals. This article scrutinizes this gap, introducing experimental evidence of human and non-human primates’ SII functions set in context with their evolutionary significance and mechanisms, functionally situating the human SII as a primate brain. Based on the presented data, a new concept of a somatocentric holistic self is proposed, represented as a more comprehensive body-in-the-world map in the primate SII, taking into account evolutionary aspects that characterize the human SII and its implication in the emergence of self-consciousness. Finally, the idea of projection is introduced from the viewpoint of cognitive science, providing a logical explanation to bridge this gap between observed behavior and neurophysiological data.

Systema Temporis: A time-based dimensional framework for consciousness and cognition

This study uses a combined categorical-dimensional approach to depict a hierarchical framework for consciousness similar to, and contiguous with, factorial models of cognition (cf., intelligence). On the basis of the longstanding definition of time consciousness, the analysis employs a dimension of temporal extension, in the same manner that psychology has temporally organised memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, and long-lasting memories). By defining temporal extension in terms of the structure of time perception at short timescales (<100 s), memory and time consciousness are proposed to fit along the same logarithmic dimension. This suggests that different forms of time consciousness (e.g., experience, wakefulness, and self-consciousness) are embedded within, or supported by, the ascending timescales of different modes of memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, etc.). A secondary dimension is also proposed to integrate higher-order forms of consciousness/emotion and memory/cognition. The resulting two-dimensional structure accords with existing theories of cognitive and emotional intelligence.

Relationship between Self-Esteem and Self-Consciousness in Adolescents: An Eye-Tracking Study

OBJECTIVE

Self-esteem and self-consciousness are important determinants of behaviors. This study aimed to explore the relationship between self-esteem and self-consciousness in adolescents using the eye-tracking measurement.

METHODS

Fifty-five adolescents with high self-esteem and 58 adolescents with low self-esteem participated in self-consciousness-related eye-tracking experiments of selecting happy, disgusted, and angry facial emotions while recognizing one's own usual expressions and the others' usual expressions toward oneself.

RESULTS

When recognizing one's own, adolescents with high self-esteem showed significantly more selection counts and longer fixation time for 'happy' than adolescents with low self-esteem. When recognizing the others', adolescents with low self-esteem showed significantly more selection counts and longer fixation time for 'disgusted' and 'angry' than adolescents with high self-esteem.

CONCLUSION

These suggest higher self-esteem is connected to more positive identification of one's usual expressions and others' usual expressions toward oneself. There is a close relationship among low self-esteem, suppressing positive emotions, decreased psychological adjustment, and increased negative emotions.

The depersonalized brain: New evidence supporting a distinction between depersonalization and derealization from discrete patterns of autonomic suppression observed in a non-clinical sample

Depersonalization and Derealization are characterised by feelings of detachment from one's bodily self/surroundings and a general emotional numbness. We explored predisposition to trait-based experiences of depersonalization/derealization-type experiences and autonomic arousal toward simulated body-threats, which were delivered to the participant's own body (i.e. Self) and when observed being delivered to another individual (i.e. Other). Ninety participants took part in an "Implied Body-Threat Illusion" task (Dewe, Watson, & Braithwaite, 2016) and autonomic arousal was recorded via standardised skin conductance responses and finger temperature. Autonomic suppression in response to threats delivered to the Self correlated with increases in trait-based depersonalization-type experiences. In contrast, autonomic suppression for threats delivered to Others correlated with trait-based derealization-like experiences. Body-temperature and anticipatory arousal did not correlate reliably with predisposition to depersonalization- or derealization-type experiences. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a fronto-limbic autonomic suppression mechanism.

The temporal structure of resting-state brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex predicts self-consciousness

Recent studies have demonstrated an overlap between the neural substrate of resting-state activity and self-related processing in the cortical midline structures (CMS). However, the neural and psychological mechanisms mediating this so-called "rest-self overlap" remain unclear. To investigate the neural mechanisms, we estimated the temporal structure of spontaneous/resting-state activity, e.g. its long-range temporal correlations or self-affinity across time as indexed by the power-law exponent (PLE). The PLE was obtained in resting-state activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in 47 healthy subjects by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We performed correlation analyses of the PLE and Revised Self-Consciousness Scale (SCSR) scores, which enabled us to access different dimensions of self-consciousness and specified rest-self overlap in a psychological regard. The PLE in the MPFC's resting-state activity correlated with private self-consciousness scores from the SCSR. Conversely, we found no correlation between the PLE and the other subscales of the SCSR (public, social) or between other resting-state measures, including functional connectivity, and the SCSR subscales. This is the first evidence for the association between the scale-free dynamics of resting-state activity in the CMS and the private dimension of self-consciousness. This finding implies the relationship of especially the private dimension of self with the temporal structure of resting-state activity.

Identification of the underlying factor structure of the Derriford Appearance Scale 24

Background. The Derriford Appearance Scale24 (DAS24) is a widely used measure of distress and dysfunction in relation to self-consciousness of appearance. It has been used in clinical and research settings, and translated into numerous European and Asian languages. Hitherto, no study has conducted an analysis to determine the underlying factor structure of the scale.

Methods. A large (n = 1,265) sample of community and hospital patients with a visible difference were recruited face to face or by post, and completed the DAS24.

Results. A two factor solution was generated. An evaluation of the congruence of the factor solutions on each of the the hospital and the community samples using Tucker’s Coefficient of Congruence (r_c = .979) and confirmatory factor analysis, which demonstrated a consistent factor structure. A main factor, general self consciousness (GSC), was represented by 18 items. Six items comprised a second factor, sexual and body self-consciousness (SBSC). The SBSC scale demonstrated greater sensitivity and specificity in identifying distress for sexually significant areas of the body.

Discussion. The factor structure of the DAS24 facilitates a more nuanced interpretation of scores using this scale. Two conceptually and statistically coherent sub-scales were identified. The SBSC sub-scale offers a means of identifying distress and dysfunction around sexually significant areas of the body not previously possible with this scale.

Where exactly am I? Self-location judgements distribute between head and torso

I am clearly located where my body is located. But is there one particular place inside my body where I am? Recent results have provided apparently contradictory findings about this question. Here, we addressed this issue using a more direct approach than has been used in previous studies. Using a simple pointing task, we asked participants to point directly at themselves, either by manual manipulation of the pointer whilst blindfolded or by visually discerning when the pointer was in the correct position. Self-location judgements in haptic and visual modalities were highly similar, and were clearly modulated by the starting location of the pointer. Participants most frequently chose to point to one of two likely regions, the upper face or the upper torso, according to which they reached first. These results suggest that while the experienced self is not spread out homogeneously across the entire body, nor is it localised in any single point. Rather, two distinct regions, the upper face and upper torso, appear to be judged as where "I" am.