NCCR-Synapsy

The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases

Body ownership is not impaired in schizophrenia

Body Ownership

Schizophrenia patients often experience an altered sense of self, for example, as if someone else is controlling their actions. This impairment is described as a deficit in the “sense of agency”, and while it has been well established and linked to problems with sensorimotor brain signals, another category has been left unexplored: the “sense of body ownership” by which we feel that our bodies belong to ourselves. Using a full-body illusion experiment, EPFL scientists have now determined that body ownership is not affected in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia patients often experience an altered sense of self, e.g. as if someone else is controlling their actions. This impairment is described as a deficit in the “sense of agency,” and while it has been well established and linked to problems with sensorimotor brain signals, another category has been left unexplored: the “sense of body ownership” by which we feel that our bodies belong to ourselves. Using a full-body illusion experiment, EPFL scientists have now determined that body ownership is not affected in schizophrenia. The study is published in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Full article on EPFL-NEWS >


Reference:
Albulena Shaqiri, Maya Roinishvili, Mariia Kaliuzhna, Ophélie Favrod, Eka Chkonia, Michael H. Herzog, Olaf Blanke, Roy Salomon.
Rethinking body ownership in schizophrenia: experimental and meta-analytical approaches show no evidence for deficits.
Schizophrenia Bulletin [ePub ahead of print] July 2017. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbx098 >


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