TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural Correlates of Body Integrity Dysphoria
AU - Saetta, Gianluca
AU - Hänggi, Jürgen
AU - Gandola, Martina
AU - Zapparoli, Laura
AU - Salvato, Gerardo
AU - Berlingeri, Manuela
AU - Sberna, Maurizio
AU - Paulesu, Eraldo
AU - Bottini, Gabriella
AU - Brugger, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the participants for their time and efforts as they traveled abroad to take part in the study. We thank Dr. Jacob M. Paul for his wise advice on the data analysis and Jasmine Ho for proofreading. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation projects Sinergia no. 160837 “MeganePro” and Doc.Mobility no. 181383 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/6/8
Y1 - 2020/6/8
N2 - There are few things as irrefutable as the evidence that our limbs belong to us. However, persons with body integrity dysphoria (BID) [1] deny the ownership of one of their fully functional limbs and seek its amputation [2]. We tapped into the brain mechanisms of BID, examining sixteen men desiring the removal of the left healthy leg. The primary sensorimotor area of the to-be-removed leg and the core area of the conscious representation of body size and shape (the right superior parietal lobule [rSPL]) [3, 4] were less functionally connected to the rest of the brain. Furthermore, the left premotor cortex, reportedly involved in the multisensory integration of limb information [5–7], and the rSPL were atrophic. The more atrophic the rSPL, the stronger the desire for amputation, and the more an individual pretended to be an amputee by using wheelchairs or crutches to solve the mismatch between the desired and actual body. Our findings illustrate the pivotal role of the connectivity of the primary sensorimotor limb area in the mediation of the feeling of body ownership. They also delineate the morphometric and functional alterations in areas of higher-order body representation possibly responsible for the dissatisfaction with a standard body configuration. The neural correlates of BID may foster the understanding of other neuropsychiatric disorders involving the bodily self. Ultimately, they may help us understand what most of us take for granted, i.e., the experience of body and self as a seamless unity.
AB - There are few things as irrefutable as the evidence that our limbs belong to us. However, persons with body integrity dysphoria (BID) [1] deny the ownership of one of their fully functional limbs and seek its amputation [2]. We tapped into the brain mechanisms of BID, examining sixteen men desiring the removal of the left healthy leg. The primary sensorimotor area of the to-be-removed leg and the core area of the conscious representation of body size and shape (the right superior parietal lobule [rSPL]) [3, 4] were less functionally connected to the rest of the brain. Furthermore, the left premotor cortex, reportedly involved in the multisensory integration of limb information [5–7], and the rSPL were atrophic. The more atrophic the rSPL, the stronger the desire for amputation, and the more an individual pretended to be an amputee by using wheelchairs or crutches to solve the mismatch between the desired and actual body. Our findings illustrate the pivotal role of the connectivity of the primary sensorimotor limb area in the mediation of the feeling of body ownership. They also delineate the morphometric and functional alterations in areas of higher-order body representation possibly responsible for the dissatisfaction with a standard body configuration. The neural correlates of BID may foster the understanding of other neuropsychiatric disorders involving the bodily self. Ultimately, they may help us understand what most of us take for granted, i.e., the experience of body and self as a seamless unity.
KW - amputation
KW - body image
KW - body integrity dysphoria
KW - ICD 11
KW - left ventral premotor cortex
KW - limb ownership
KW - mental disorder
KW - resting-state functional connectivity
KW - right superior parietal lobule
KW - voxel-based morphometry
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 32386532
AN - SCOPUS:85084863298
VL - 30
SP - 2191-2195.e3
JO - Current Biology
JF - Current Biology
SN - 0960-9822
IS - 11
ER -