Neuroanatomical aspects of the body awareness

ABSTRACT

The cerebral cortex is the most complex part of the human brain and is responsible for thinking, reasoning, cognitive functions, memory and sensory perception processes, among others. The cerebral cortex can be classified into areas, from the specific functions it performs. Particularly noteworthy are the cortical areas, which integrate from multimodal stimuli and enable the individual to perceive his own body and its relationship with the space around it. This capacity is built from the attitudes and values that the individual has in relation to his or her body (body image) and the dimensional perception of its segments (body schema). This process depends on complex neural mechanisms that are related to different cortical areas. The aim of this study was to compare the cortical areas involved in the construction of body perception: body image and schema. As a result, it was observed that the areas with predominance in the perception of body size are more related to the right parietal region and those related to cognitive aspects are located in the prefrontal area and parts of the limbic system.