The Fading Self in Space- Disruption of Default Spatial Representation Across

Ravinder Jerath^1*Vasha Malani^2*

• ¹Mind Body Technologies and Research, Augusta, Gorgia, United States
• ²Northeastern University, Boston, United States

Neurological disorders stem from an intermingled change to self-in-space. While many of these disorders present as spatial deficits—contralateral neglect syndrome, for example—they manifest from the same etiology: disruption to the brain's "default spatial representation" (DSR). DSR is a basic internally-generated representation of space that delineates where the self is located in space—without attentional focus from external drive. We review how pathologic disintegration of DSR is associated with anomalous activation and connectivity within distinct large-scale brain networks (e.g. Default Mode Network and a comprehensive attention-networked system) leading to a heterogeneous presentation of clinically assessed outcomes. The outcomes will be—psychogenic paralysis of limbs, left-side neglect, rectified sense of other locations, disorders of consciousness, symptoms related to Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alzheimer's Disorder, schizophrenia, and depersonalization/derealization disorder. By consolidating evidence from neuroimaging, lesion-symptom mapping, and computational assessment, we hope to reconceptualize these disorders as not separate and independent maladies, but instead, manifestations of a deeper proper etiology with a networked specific assessment strategy for diagnosis and treatment options for meaning to be restored of self-in-space.