The spatial self in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been both described as disorders of the self. However, the manner in which the sense of self is impacted in these disorders is strikingly different. In the current review, we propose that SZ and ASD lay at opposite extremes of a particular component of the representation of self; namely, self-location and the construct of peripersonal space. We evaluate emerging literature suggesting that while SZ individuals possess an extremely weak or variable bodily boundary between self and other, ASD patients possess a sharper self-other boundary. Furthermore, based on recent behavioral and neural network modeling findings, we propose that multisensory training focused on either sharpening (for SZ) or making shallower (for ASD) the self-other boundary may hold promise as an interventional tool in the treatment of these disorders.

Keywords: Autism; Location; Multisensory; Peripersonal; Schizophrenia; Self.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the working hypothesis that self-other differentiation may lie on a continuum, and that although individuals with SZ and ASD exhibit distinct symptomatologies, these psychopathological conditions may index extreme cases of difficulties in self-other differentiation. The solid line circles represent the overall size of PPS (not necessarily changing in size as we move from SZ to healthy to ASD), while the color gradient represents the shallowness (SZ)/steepness (ASD) of the gradient with which self and other are differentiated throughout PPS.