Multisensory Spatial Mechanisms of the Bodily Self and Social Cognition
Infoscience January 1, 2015 Christian Pfeiffer 5 citations
The commentary argues that embodied simulation, specifically motor resonance, is too narrow to serve as the primary brain mechanism underlying the bodily self and social cognition. Instead, multisensory spatial processing, including attention schema theory and vestibular system contributions, plays a crucial role. Attention schema theory proposes that pre-reflective empathy involves predicting others' spatial attention, not just motor resonance. For the bodily self, spatial aspects like self-location and first-person perspective are encoded in brain regions distinct from those of embodied simulation. The vestibular system, encoding gravity and distinguishing self-motion from other-motion, overlaps with neural networks for both the bodily self and social cognition, suggesting it is a key component.