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. 2023 Oct 4;13(10):1410. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13101410

Table 1.

Summary of the main characteristics and approaches to study body schema (BS) and body image (BI).

Body Schema (BS) Body Image (BI)
Definitions

  • Representation of posture that, based on movements or changes in position, is continuously updated, even in the absence of visual inputs, integrating information coming from peripheral receptors with that coming from muscles and joints [7].

  • A system of sensorimotor skills that function without awareness or the need for perceptual monitoring, contrasting it with body image described as a “system of perceptions, attitudes and beliefs related to one’s body” [8].

 Cognitive organization of one’s appearance, including internal image, thoughts and feelings that are related to body schema [21].
Body image is a multidimensional construct composed of four main components [26]:

  1. Cognitive;

  2. Perceptual;

  3. Affective;

  4. Behavioral.
Theoretical models General schematic model [36]

  • Co-construction model [31];

  • The Perception–Action model for the analysis of body representations [34].
Experimental tasks/Assessment tools

  • Motor imagery (conscious/unconscious modality);

  • Pointing to one’s body part;

  • Reaching and Grasping movements.

 Attitudinal component of BI:

  • Figure rating scales;

  • Questionnaires typically about body dissatisfaction.

Perceptual component of BI:

  • Depictive or representative methods (e.g., distorting mirror, distorted photograph technique, video distortion, template matching);

  • Metric methods (e.g., the movable caliper technique, visual size estimation, the image marking procedure);

  • Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).

Body structural representation: localization of isolated body parts; localization of tactile input; matching body parts by localization
Body semantics: matching body parts by function; matching body parts to objects and clothes
Actual non-pharmacological treatments

  • Mirror therapy (MT);

  • Virtual visual feedback therapy;

  • Motor imagery training (MIT);

  • Graded motor imagery (GMI);

  • Integration of above techniques.

 For body dissatisfaction:

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT);

  • Self-esteem-enhancing intervention;

  • Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT);

  • Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET).