Whatever Next and Close to My Self-The Transparent Senses and the "Second Skin": Implications for the Case of Depersonalization.
Anna Ciaunica, Andreas Roepstorff, Aikaterini Katerina Fotopoulou, Bruna Petreca
Frontiers in Psychology May 31, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.613587 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Ego dissolution |
| Keywords | Touch Body image Self-awareness Depersonalization Body schema Predictive processing |
| Key points | Argues that predictive processing accounts should extend the notion of 'next' to include spatially proximal inputs, and proposes that tactile experiences via the skin and clothing ('extended skin' or 'second skin') function as a 'transparent bridge' that both distinguishes and connects the bodily self to its environment. Suggests this framework may inform understanding of Depersonalization Disorder, characterized by estrangement from self, body, and world. |
Abstract
In his paper "Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science," Andy Clark seminally proposed that the brain's job is to predict whatever information is coming "next" on the basis of prior inputs and experiences. Perception fundamentally subserves survival and self-preservation in biological agents, such as humans. Survival however crucially depends on rapid and accurate information processing of what is happening in the here and now. Hence, the term "next" in Clark's seminal formulation must include not only the temporal dimension (i.e., what is perceived now) but also the spatial dimension (i.e., what is perceived here or next-to-my-body). In this paper, we propose to focus on perceptual experiences that happen "next," i.e., close-to-my-body. This is because perceptual processing of proximal sensory inputs has a key impact on the organism's survival. Specifically, we focus on tactile experiences mediated by the skin and what we will call the "extended skin" or "second skin," that is, immediate objects/materials that envelop closely to our skin, namely, clothes. We propose that the skin and tactile experiences are not a mere border separating the self and world. Rather, they simultaneously and inherently distinguish and connect the bodily self to its environment. Hence, these proximal and pervasive tactile experiences can be viewed as a "transparent bridge" intrinsically relating and facilitating exchanges between the self and the physical and social world. We conclude with potential implications of this observation for the case of Depersonalization Disorder, a condition that makes people feel estranged and detached from their self, body, and the world.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altered States of Consciousness | 1966 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Hypnotic phenomena and altered states of consciousness: a multilevel framework of description and explanation | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- The first prior: From co-embodiment to co-homeostasis in early life. Consciousness and Cognition May 1, 2021
- I overthink—Therefore I am not: An active inference account of altered sense of self and agency in depersonalisation disorder Consciousness and Cognition April 28, 2022
- The Radically Embodied Conscious Cybernetic Bayesian Brain: From Free Energy to Free Will and Back Again. Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) June 20, 2021
- Lost in time and space? Multisensory processing of peripersonal space and time perception in people with frequent experiences of depersonalisation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology June 1, 2025
- Examining the association between depersonalisation traits and the bodily self in waking and dreaming. Scientific Reports March 13, 2024
and 9 more in the library
Cites 20
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- An Interoceptive Predictive Coding Model of Conscious Presence Frontiers in Psychology 2012
- Minimal self-models and the free energy principle. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience September 12, 2013
- The first prior: From co-embodiment to co-homeostasis in early life. Consciousness and Cognition May 1, 2021
- When the Window Cracks: Transparency and the Fractured Self in Depersonalisation Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences June 6, 2020
and 15 more in the library