Neurophysiology · functional reading

Body schema

The body schema is a sensorimotor representation of the body, largely nonconscious and continuously updated, that makes it possible to locate body segments and organize posture and movement. It is one of the dimensions of body representation.

Scientific basis

Described as early as 1911 by Head and Holmes, the body schema is built from proprioceptive, tactile, visual and vestibular information. It is distinct from body image, which covers conscious perceptions, beliefs and attitudes toward one’s own body.

Current research speaks instead of body representations in the plural: the body schema itself covers several sensorimotor representations, and classifications vary from author to author. Changes in body representations have been described in some chronic pain conditions.

Blue Portance / SBNFA™ reading

The body schema contributes to postural adaptability by helping locate body segments and organize sensorimotor adjustments. The SBNFA™ places it within the loop between sensory information and adjustment, without treating it as a single or fixed map of the body.

Contribution to the analysis of sitting

Seating analysis does not measure the body schema. It observes whether the position leaves the body differentiated support and room for adjustment, which are part of the information from which the body schema is updated.

Not to be confused with

Body image, the set of conscious perceptions, beliefs and attitudes toward one’s body; body representation, an umbrella notion that includes both body schema and body image; homunculus, the somatotopic representation of the body in the cortex; proprioception, an essential source of information for the body schema, which is not the same thing as the body schema.

Sources and scope

An established concept in cognitive neuroscience; terminology varies by author. This entry covers the body schema in adults, in relation to posture and action.