Introductory description

To develop understanding and the ability to think critically about how we sense, perceive and experience the body and its relationship to the environment.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Body Sensing and Body Awareness
Body Schemas and Body Images
Delusions, Effort and Agency
Kinesthetic Vision & Kinesthetic Touch
The Body in Perception
Interoception
Pain
Equilibrioception & Motion Sickness
The Body in Space
Revision
Revision

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Knowledge of the functional anatomy and neurophysiology of the somatosensory, kinesthetic and vestibular systems
• Knowledge and understanding of how sensory receptors transduce proximal stimulation into neural signals and how the central nervous system uses these signals to obtain information about the body
• Knowledge of the regions of the central nervous system involved in body perception and how neurological damage can affect behaviour and experience
• Understanding of how sensory signals from the body can affect behaviour, produce perceptual experience, evoke ‘feelings’, and influence our senses of wellness/illness, fatigue and effort
• Knowledge of how multiple sensory modalities and non-sensory sources of information contribute to body perception and experience
• Understanding of how non-veridical (illusory) body percepts can affect experience and behaviour and the consequences for performance in real-world situations

Indicative reading list

Wolfe, J. et al. (2015) Sensation and Perception (4th Edition). Sunderland MA: Sinauer Associates
Craig, A. D. (2014) How do you feel? An Interoceptive Moment with your Neurobiological Self. Princeton University Press.
Tresilian, J. R. (2012) Sensorimotor Control and Leaning: An Introduction to the Behavioral Neuroscience of Action. Palgrave MacMillan.

Subject specific skills

knowledge of the functional anatomy and neurophysiology of the somatosensory, kinesthetic and vestibular systems
Understand how neurological damage can affect behaviour and experience
Understanding of how sensory signals from the body can affect behaviour,
knowledge of the regions of the central nervous system involved in body perception

Transferable skills

• familiarity with collecting and organising stored information found in library book and journal collections, and online, critically evaluating primary and secondary sources
• effective personal planning and self-reflection skills