Coding Self Representations: Linking Postural Dynamics to Egocentric Tuning

The concept of the neural representation of the self, evoked when the body is dynamically engaged in intentional action, is traced to the notion of the motor image. Insights drawn from the motor image posit that bodily representation is a key feature stabilizing individual motions of the plan as teleologically situated, that is, linking an agent to an objective terminus. Current work is beginning to disentangle representational content that is globally attuned to the whole individual from that for discrete movements. These studies suggest that representations of body posture are likely to be an important proxy for global self-representation in dynamic actions and may be directly modified by goal specific content. Candidate influences for goal related modulation are likely to include egocentric coding in the posterior parietal and premotor cortices that shape self representations to yield goal directed motor movement.

Keywords:Motor image; Predictive processing; Postural tuning; Neural coding; Corollary discharge; Body schema; Egocentric; Allocentric