The objective of this study is to compare proprioception, visceroception, temperature and pressure pain sensitivity in healthy adults with high and low scores in self-reported scales of body awareness.
One hundred and twenty healthy adults completed two body awareness self-report questionnaires: The Body Consciousness Questionnaire and The Body Connection Scale. Subsequently, a cluster classified participants according to the medians of the total scores of both questionnaires and the 55 participants who had highest (high body awareness, n=35) and lowest scores (low body awareness, n=20) attended an assessment session where they were asked to undergo an assessment of their interoceptive and exteroceptive perception. Interoception was assessed by means of proprioceptive (postural body sway, using a modified version of the Romberg's balance test), and visceroceptive tasks (heartbeat discrimination paradigm where participants had to state whether the external auditory stimulus was synchronous or asynchronous with their own heartbeat). Exteroception was assessed by means of skin-mediated temperature and pain thresholds (thermal plate for cold and heat tolerance, algometer for pressure pain thresholds).
Age showed significant negative correlations with the total score of the Body Consciousness questionnaire and for the domain public consciousness, indicating higher total body consciousness and public consciousness in younger participants. Sex-related differences were found in specific dimensions. Thus, men had lower public consciousness and body awareness, but higher body competence than women.
The groups of high and low body awareness significantly differed in the total scores of both questionnaires and the specific dimensions private consciousness and body awareness. The groups showed different cold pain tolerance. The groups did not differ in body distortion, body dissatisfaction, visceroception and proprioception measures.
Pressure pain thresholds correlated negatively with Public consciousness, private consciousness and body awareness (individuals with higher awareness reported lower pressure pain thresholds –more pain sensitivity-) but positively with Body competence (individuals with higher body competence showed less pain sensitivity). Cold pain tolerance positively correlated with body competence, body awareness and the total score of the Body Connection Scale, indicating more time for arriving at the pain cold tolerance –less pain cold sensitivity- in individuals with higher awareness.
Our findings highlight skin-mediated pain perception as the interoceptive parameter most related to self-reported body awareness.
Body awareness may be an important variable in pathological pain conditions and must be included in assessment, prevention and intervention protocols.
Body awareness
Proprioception
