Abstract

The sense of ownership and the body representation were considered as components of "self-consciousness" and "agency". The present paper addressed firstly the main differences between the "sense of agency" and the "sense of body ownership", that is the sense that someone is the one who is undergoing an experience. Secondly, it explored the role of the "neural substrates" implicated in the sense of body ownership. However, it was concluded that only the integration of the self-representation of one's body in action and the cognitive and meta-cognitive components of the sense of agency support a functional «knowledge» of the subjective agency. In other cases dysfunctional representations may be generated, as a consequence of "neurological disorders" and "neuropsychological pathologies".