Somatosensation and the sense of self.
Patrick Haggard, Matthew R Longo
Current Biology October 20, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.07.062 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the body is a key component of individual self-consciousness, alongside psychological components such as autobiographical memory and explicit self-construal, and proposes that experiences of and through the body are a good way to understand this basic bodily self, with all such experiences beginning with sensory receptor excitation that sends somatosensory afferent signals to the central nervous system. |
Abstract
Our own body is the constant accompaniment of our waking mental life, and the seat of all our sensory experience and responses. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the body is a key component in individual self-consciousness, in addition to other, psychological components such as autobiographical memory and explicit self-construal. The experiences that we have of and through our body are a good way to understand this basic bodily self. All these experiences begin with the excitation of sensory receptors in the body, which send somatosensory afferent signals to the central nervous system (CNS).