The Body Perception from the Brain - Essay Example

 Response. The body in the brain talks about understanding the relationship between the body and how well the brain understands it. Since the brainis the center of all activities taking place in the body, an understanding of how it perceives the body, and the correlation between this perception and how the body reacts to external elements, is vital in understanding corporeal awareness, just as the reading advances (Carter 2014, pp. 99). The piece on shared pain looks at the phenomenon whereby individuals are able to relate to pain observed in others.

It tries to understand the link between one body and another, such that it is easy to perceive pain just from observation. The dominant theory is from experimental amputees who experience pain in phantom limbs, and relate it to their previous experiences. Similarly, mirror-touch synesthesia is described as a form of shared feeling that is more common than the other documented cases. The reading talks of two types, specular subtype which results in failure to differentiate similar body parts as displayed in a mirror, and anatomical subtype which occurs through observation in others.

However, the exact reason behind this occurrence doesn’t seem to be clear. The reading on embodiment, ownership and dis-ownership looks at the body’s own understanding of itself. Particularly, it looks at the ability of an individual to be able to perceive a body part as being theirs. The conclusion is that the feeling of ownership is based on an assumption, which affects the level of attachment one feels for the body and its parts. This conclusion is based on research on individuals who have experienced disorders that make them feel detached from their own bodies.

References.Carter, R. (2014). The Brain Book. Massachusetts, MA: Dorling Kindersley Limited.