Human Body

The Human Body (人体) refers to the physical body that makes up a human being and the general structure shared between them.
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Given its role in magic and esper abilities, as well as various fields of science and technology, the human body, its mechanisms and its components have numerous connections to various subjects on both the Magic Side and the Science Side.

Principles
Due to the mechanisms which magic and esper abilities generally operate under, with elements of both tied to the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm, the human body and mind plays a key role in the supernatural powers and phenomena brought about by them, with one's inner world being used to influence the outside world. For magic, methods of changing the flow of life force within one's body (such as altered breathing) are used to refine the magical power that fuels many spells. For esper abilities, changes induced in the body and mind through various means are used to cultivate the Personal Reality needed for the ability and the two also affect the output. For both forms of supernatural power, the mind plays a key role in directing the phenomena they produce, along with the movements of the body.

General
The basic anatomical shape of a human body consists of a central vertical torso, a head and neck on top, two arms connected either side of the upper torso and two legs connected either side of the lower torso. A bony skeleton acts as the base frame which supports the body, containing and surrounded by a variety of muscles, organs, blood vessels, nerves and more, with the skin forming the outermost layer.

Notable body parts include:

Magic
The mechanisms of the human body plays a key role in the use of magic, as the basic method of casting most spells involves refining one's life force into magical power and this is often done by inducing a change in the body's operations, such as through altered breathing. The limitations of the human body also play a role, at all with restrictions and dangers from exceeding the body's limits accompanying certain types or levels of magic and related power.

There are a number of symbols which are used to represent the human body as a whole, including the cross and the Sephiroth. There are also numerous symbols corresponding to its individual components, some of which are connected to the symbols used to represent the whole, such as the spheres and channels that make up the Sephiroth.

Due to correspondences drawn between specific body parts and certain symbols and stories, those body parts are utilized in certain forms of magic. For example, each of the fingers on one's hand is associated with one of the five elements and can be used to exploit the elemental symbolism. Other spells and stories involve the use of specific body parts as materials. In a number of cases, the microcosmic territory inside one's body can be used in a spell aimed at causing a macrocosmic effect in the outer world.

These effects and conditions can also be applied in reverse. Aside from spells that affect specific body parts based on stories used as their foundation, such as Cendrillon's foot-targeting spell, the magical correspondence tied to the human body and its components can be used to affect the insides of one's body, seen with Coronzon and Anna Sprengel using methods derived from the Sephiroth (with its spheres and the channels between them) to cause obstructions in the flow of power and unseen circulations inside a target's body upon physical contact (either striking a blow or being struck a blow). For example, when she affected Accelerator in this way, Coronzon mentioned how an arm is formed from Chesed and Gevurah, and how out of the five fingers controlling the elements, the middle finger controls fire, represented by the red associated with blood, which symbolizes the activity of the heart - in that case, when Accelerator accepted the rebounding force from his punch for measurements, the damage passed from his fist, up his arm to his heart, causing an invisible clog in his chest.

In other cases, magical symbols associated with the human body and its components can be utilized in magic to simulate or reproduce the body.

Science
The study of the human body falls across several branches of science, including and.

Espers
The processes and development of the human body, as well as knowledge about how it works and how to manipulate it, plays a key role in the development of esper abilities, such as in the Power Curriculum Program, with hormones generated during puberty and adolescence considered critical to esper development.

The most prominent part of the human body involved with espers and their abilities is the brain, as mental faculties are crucial to the development and usage of their powers. It is critical in the cultivation and maintenance of an esper's Personal Reality, as well as the micro-scale observations that are necessary for an esper to cause macro-scale phenomena, based on. In order for an esper to use their ability, they have to mentally perform the (often(?)-complex) calculations necessary for their ability to produce the desired effect, and mental concentration is needed for both calculation and usage.

Disrupting an esper's concentration (be it through pain, exhaustion, surprise, confusion or some other factor), preventing them from completing calculations and using their power, will result in their ability being disrupted, with the principle being utilized in AIM Jammers. Outside of the typical changes in the brain brought about in the Power Curriculum Program, and the modification of thought patterns performed in certain experiments (such as the Dark May Project), direct physical modification of an esper's brain will have a noticeable impact on their ability. Damage to an esper's brain will negatively impact their capacity to use their ability on their own, prominently seen with Accelerator requiring his calculations to be performed externally through the Misaka Network after being shot in the head. At least one project, the Exterior Project, involved growing a brain from a sample from an esper in order to utilize an ability - in the case of Exterior, a portion of Shokuhou Misaki's cerebral cortex was sampled, cultivated and enlarged with the goal of allowing others to utilize Mental Out.

While the brain is a key component of the system for esper powers, it is not the only bodily factor involved. The entire physical body is also part of this system and also linked to control of the esper power, though the full and exact mechanisms are not well understood. In the experiment known as Produce, aimed at determining the exact location of an esper power within the body, aside from dissection, specific body parts (from limbs to organs to brain parts) were removed from living test subjects. The esper ability remained in the living test subjects despite the specific removals, although its output dropped as the body grew smaller. Researcher Hishigata Mikihiko would eventually conclude that an esper power could only reside in a body containing a soul, and would later apply the findings regarding the connection between body size and power output in reverse, with the idea of reinforcing and expanding the body to strengthen the power being used in the development of the Coffin.

Similarly, it has been shown that, as long as something is considered a part of an esper's body, the esper's ability can be used with it, regardless of where the part is natural or artificial, or whether it is properly attached or detached. Examples include Kuroyoru Umidori using Bomber Lance through her detached cyborg arms, which she considers parts of her body, Kakine Teitoku controlling his Dark Matter even if it was not directly touching his body by no longer distinguishing between his actual body and the parts fabricated from his power,  and Rensa changing her internal structure to match that of other espers in order to create an output point and drawn upon their abilities. Coffins also operate on this principle, tricking the brains of dead espers, reanimated with artificial souls, into considering the bigger mechanical bodies their own, resulting in an increased power output.