Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
07:05
Visualization Method for Proprioceptive Drift on a 2D Plane Using Support Vector Machine
Published on: October 27, 2016
Asymmetrical body perception: a possible role for neural body representations
Sally A Linkenauger1, Jessica K Witt, Jonathan Z Bakdash
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. sal3g@virginia.edu
Psychological Science
|October 1, 2009
Summary
Right-handed individuals perceive their right arm as longer due to brain differences, while left-handers have accurate arm perception. This highlights the link between neural body maps and conscious body awareness.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Body Perception
- Handedness Studies
Background:
- Body perception involves both physical appearance and neural representations.
- Brain contains distinct body maps that vary between right- and left-handed individuals.
- Cortical representations of limbs differ in size across brain hemispheres based on handedness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between brain's body maps and conscious perception of arm length.
- To examine how natural differences in hemispheric body representations affect perceived arm length in right- and left-handers.
Main Methods:
- Utilized naturally occurring differences in brain body maps between right- and left-handed people.
- Examined perceived arm length by having participants individually view each arm and hand.
- Compared perceived arm length between right and left arms/hands in both handedness groups.
Main Results:
- Right-handed participants perceived their right arms and hands as longer than their left counterparts.
- Left-handed participants demonstrated accurate perception of both their right and left arms and hands.
- Differences in perceived arm length were observed based on handedness.
Conclusions:
- Implicit body maps in the brain are linked to conscious body perception.
- Hemispheric differences in neural body representations influence the subjective experience of body size.
- Handedness is a significant factor in how individuals perceive their own body dimensions.
Related Concept Videos
01:33Somatosensation
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
01:28Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
01:20Parallel Processing
The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
01:20Understanding Self-Concept
The self-concept encompasses individuals' beliefs about themselves, structured through cognitive frameworks known as self-schemas. These schemas function as mental representations of specific traits or behaviors, influencing how self-relevant information is perceived, processed, and remembered. For example, individuals who are schematic for body weight are more likely to interpret routine experiences—such as dining out or shopping—through the lens of that trait. Conversely, those aschematic for...
01:37Neural Regulation
Digestion begins with a cephalic phase that prepares the digestive system to receive food. When our brain processes visual or olfactory information about food, it triggers impulses in the cranial nerves innervating the salivary glands and stomach to prepare for food.
01:06Body Planes
Body planes in anatomy are imaginary flat surfaces used as reference points to divide the body into sections for anatomical study. These planes are essential for understanding the orientation, relationships, and spatial organization of anatomical structures.
The sagittal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ vertically into right and left sides. If this vertical plane runs directly down the middle of the body resulting in equal division, it is called the midsagittal or median...
The sagittal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ vertically into right and left sides. If this vertical plane runs directly down the middle of the body resulting in equal division, it is called the midsagittal or median...