Week 11 - Clinical alterations of Bodily Consciousness

Question 1

different levels of consciousness

Answer 1

• Lowest level would be a coma

Out of Body experiences - might be linked to seizures or lesions located in the temporoparietal junction

Austoscopy - feeling like you see your body in extrapersonal space

Visual body illusions - feeling that body parts change shape or become shorter , similar to phantomb limb syndrome

Question 2

What is Proprioception ?

Answer 2

• your body’s ability to sense its position and movement in space

Question 3

What is the role of Temporoparietal junction in relation to bodily function

Answer 3

• Linked to Multi sensory Integration and this is crucial for self bodily consciousness

Question 4

Facts about phantom limb

Answer 4

• Motor cortex still expects info from the phantom limb
• predictive coding predicts information from the limbs
• Symptoms make feel burning sharp pain

Brains plasticity can link to these maladaptive responses

Also the somatosensory cortex

Maladaptive plasticity theory - cortical reorganisation in sensorimotor areas causes phantom pain

Question 5

WHat is supernumerry phantom limb

Answer 5

• Sensation of a third limb , such as a ghost arm even when the real arm is still there , body can fabricate extra limb , links to the rubber hand experiement

Question 6

Blindsight

Answer 6

Occipital stroke (in V1) can cause cortical blindness in the hemifield contralateral to the stroke site.

Patients can answer questions or carry out tasks related to stimuli in the hemifield affected by blindness.

Question 7

Dissociative disorder

Answer 7

Dissociation is a feeling of being detached from oneself and one’s environment

Depersonalisation/Derealisation Disorder:

Derealisation: Feeling unreal, like in a dream, “behind a glass wall”

Depersonalisation: Feeling like a robot, like one’s movements are not one’s own

Question 8

What is a quote about dreams and psychosis

Answer 8

“Dreams are not like delirium it is delirium “ (Hobson 1999)