Exploring Self-Consciousness From Self- and Other-Image Recognition in the Mirror: Concepts and Evaluation

Gaelle Keromnes (1) , Sylvie Chokron (2) , Macarena-Paz Celume (3) , Alain Berthoz (4) , Michel Botbol (5) , Roberto Canitano (6) , Foucaud Du Boisgueheneuc (7) , Nemat Jaafari (8, 9) , Nathalie Lavenne-Collot (10) , Brice Martin (11) , Tom Motillon (1) , Bérangère Thirioux (12, 8) , Valeria Scandurra , Moritz Wehrmann (12) , Ahmad Ghanizadeh , Sylvie Tordjman (13)

1 Centre Hospitalier Guillaume Régnier [Rennes]
2 LPP - UMR 8242 - Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception
3 UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5
4 CdF (institution) - Collège de France
5 Service Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent
6 Siena University Hospital
7 CHU de Poitiers - Centre hospitalier universitaire de Poitiers = Poitiers University Hospital
8 CIC 1402 - CIC Poitiers – Centre d'investigation clinique de Poitiers
9 LNEC [Poitiers] - Laboratoire de neurosciences expérimentales et cliniques
10 Centre de Ressources Autisme Bretagne
11 CRESAT - Centre de Recherches sur les Économies, les Sociétés, les Arts et les Techniques
12 LPPA - Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action
13 Fondation Vallée

A review of the concepts of self-consciousness is presented, highlighting the important role of the body (particularly, body perception but also body action) and the social other in the construction of self-consciousness. More precisely, body perception, especially intermodal sensory perception including kinesthetic perception, is involved in the construction of a sense of self allowing self-nonself differentiation. Furthermore, the social other, through very early social and emotional interactions, provides meaning to the infant's perception and contributes to the development of his/her symbolization capacities. This is a necessary condition for body image representation and awareness of a permanent self in a time-space continuum (invariant over time and space). Self-image recognition impairments in the mirror are also discussed regarding a comprehensive developmental theory of self-consciousness. Then, a neuropsychological and neurophysiological approach to self-consciousness reviews the role of complex brain activation/integration pathways and the mirror neuron system in self-consciousness. Finally, this article offers new perspectives on self-consciousness evaluation using the mirror as an experimental paradigm to study self-and other-image and body recognition.

Mots clés: Self; Self-consciousness; Self-awareness; Body; Body-self; Body image; Self-image recognition; Body perception; Intermodal sensory perception; Body action; Development

Domaines: Sciences cognitives

Gaelle Keromnes, Sylvie Chokron, Macarena-Paz Celume, Alain Berthoz, Michel Botbol, et al.. Exploring Self-Consciousness From Self- and Other-Image Recognition in the Mirror: Concepts and Evaluation. Frontiers in Psychology, 2019, 10, ⟨10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00719⟩. ⟨hal-02396101⟩