Cited by 69Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsEmbodied and Extended CognitionPsychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

Peripersonal Space and Bodily Self-Consciousness: Implications for Psychological Trauma-Related Disorders

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Rabellino, Daniela, Frewen, Paul A., McKinnon, Margaret C., Lanius, Ruth A.·2020·Frontiers in Neuroscience

Abstract

Peripersonal space (PPS) is defined as the space surrounding the body where we can reach or be reached by external entities, including objects or other individuals. PPS is an essential component of bodily self-consciousness that allows us to perform actions in the world (e.g., grasping and manipulating objects) and protect our body while interacting with the surrounding environment. Multisensory processing plays a critical role in PPS representation, facilitating not only to situate ourselves in space but also assisting in the localization of external entities at a close distance from our bodies. Such abilities appear especially crucial when an external entity (a sound, an object, or a person) is approaching us, thereby allowing the assessment of the salience of a potential incoming threat. Accordingly, PPS represents a key aspect of social cognitive processes operational when we interact with other people (for example, in a dynamic dyad). The underpinnings of PPS have been investigated largely in human models and in animals and include the operation of dedicated multimodal neurons (neurons that respond specifically to co-occurring stimuli from different perceptive modalities, e.g., auditory and tactile stimuli) within brain regions involved in sensorimotor processing (ventral intraparietal sulcus, ventral premotor cortex), interoception (insula), and visual recognition (lateral occipital cortex). Although the defensive role of the PPS has been observed in psychopathology (e.g., in phobias) the relation between PPS and altered states of bodily consciousness remains largely unexplored. Specifically, PPS representation in trauma-related disorders, where altered states of consciousness can involve dissociation from the body and its surroundings, have not been investigated. Accordingly, we review here: (1) the behavioral and neurobiological literature surrounding trauma-related disorders and its relevance to PPS; and (2) outline future research directions aimed at examining altered states of bodily self-consciousness in trauma related-disorders.

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  • These deficits might account for some of the social interaction difficulties encountered in autistic patients.

    “These deficits might account for some of the social interactions difficulties encountered in these patients (Rabellino et al., 2020).”

    From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Rabellino et al., 2020

    The Autism section (page unavailable) reports smaller peripersonal space with sharper boundaries in adults with autism. The Plasticity of Peripersonal Space section (page unavailable) says peripersonal space plays a role in social cognition and relationships, but the paper does not specifically say that the differences observed in autism might account for autistic patients’ social interaction difficulties. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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  • Recent years have seen an ever-growing interest into higher-level, context-dependent modulations of PPS functions that seem to propel PPS roles well beyond its basic, though critical functions for survival.

    “Yet, recent years have seen an ever-growing interest into higher level, contextual dependent modulations of these functions that seem to propel PPS roles well beyond its basic, though critical functions for survival (Ardizzi & Ferri, 2018;Rabellino et al., 2020;Salomon et al., 2017).”

    From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Rabellino et al., 2020

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Brozzoli C. Makin T. R. Cardinali L. Holmes N. P. Farnè A. (eds) (2011). “ Peripersonal Space: a multisensory interface for body-object interactions,” in The Neural Bases of Multisensory Processes (London: Taylor & Francis), 449– 466.
  2. Graziano M. S. A. Gross C. G. (1994). “ The representation of extrapersonal space: a possible role for bimodal, visuo-tactile neurons,” in The Cognitive Neuroscience, ed. Gazzaniga M. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), 1021– 1034.

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Authors
Rabellino, D., Frewen, P. A., McKinnon, M. C., & Lanius, R. A.
Affiliations
  • Western University (CA)
  • Homewood Research Institute (CA)
Corresponding author
Rabellino, Daniela
Venue
Frontiers in Neuroscience
Published
2020-12-10
Volume
14
Pages
586605-586605
ISSN
1662-453X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3112885279
Cited by
69
References
160
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4
FWCI
0.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
Keywords
peripersonal space, bodily self-consciousness, trauma-related disorders, dissociation, altered states of consciousness, multisensory processing, threat detection, ventral premotor cortex, interoception, phobia, body awareness

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