Where in Your Body Do You Live?

"When an event, such as the death of someone close, affects you in a major way, a common idiom says the event "really hits you where you live." But where, exactly, do you live? Not in a country, state, city, house, or apartment, but inside your body? Until recently, I assumed everyone was like me, localizing "self" inside the head."

"The brain has no proprioceptors or other sensory receptors to locate itself within the body, as every other part of the body does, but research on the physical locus of self reveals that most people are like me, placing their sense of self somewhere in their head, often behind the eyes [1]. Perhaps most people, believing their thoughts originate in their brains, unconsciously locate themselves in the head."

Individuals vary in where they experience their sense of self within their bodies. Most people place the self in the head, often behind the eyes; a substantial minority place it in the chest near the heart; a smaller group perceives the self as distributed across the whole body. Some people with depression or depersonalization feel disconnected from their bodies. Self-localization usually refers to a general region rather than a single point. Beliefs that thoughts originate in the brain and identification with head-based senses may underlie head localization. Locus of self correlates with personality, decision-making, behaviors, and can be shifted to reduce stress and improve well-being.

Read at Psychology Today