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Distorted perceptual face maps.

Matthew R Longo1, Marie Holmes1

  • 1Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom.

Acta Psychologica
|June 26, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Perceptual body maps are distorted, with the face being overestimated in width but not length. These findings suggest widespread distortions in how we perceive our body

Keywords:
Body imageBody representationFaceProprioceptionSelf

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Body Perception
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • Proprioception, the sense of body position, relies on internal representations of body size and shape.
  • Previous research indicates distorted perceptual maps of the hand and forearm, with width overestimated relative to length.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate perceptual maps of the face, a key component of self-identity.
  • To determine if the distortions observed in limb perception extend to facial perception.

Main Methods:

  • Participants localized 19 facial landmarks by pointing on a board covering their face.
  • Perceptual face maps were constructed by analyzing the relative locations of landmark judgments.
  • These perceptual maps were compared against the actual anatomical structure of the face.

Main Results:

  • Facial perceptual maps exhibited significant distortions.
  • Face width was substantially overestimated in perceptual maps.
  • Face length was not significantly overestimated, unlike width.

Conclusions:

  • Distortions in perceptual body mapping are not limited to limbs but are widespread across the body.
  • The face, central to personal identity, is subject to significant perceptual distortions in width.
  • These findings highlight a general principle of distorted body representation in the brain.