Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder are associated with abnormalities in processing visual information

BackgroundAnorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are characterized by distorted body image and are frequently co-morbid with each other, although their relationship remains little studied. While there is evidence of abnormalities in visual and visuospatial processing in both disorders, no study has directly compared the two. We used two complementary modalities – event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – to test for abnormal activity associated with early visual signaling.MethodWe acquired fMRI and ERP data in separate sessions from 15 unmedicated individuals in each of three groups (weight-restored AN, BDD, and healthy controls) while they viewed images of faces and houses of different spatial frequencies. We used joint independent component analyses to compare activity in visual systems.ResultsAN and BDD groups demonstrated similar hypoactivity in early secondary visual processing regions and the dorsal visual stream when viewing low spatial frequency faces, linked to the N170 component, as well as in early secondary visual processing regions when viewing low spatial frequency houses, linked to the P100 component. Additionally, the BDD group exhibited hyperactivity in fusiform cortex when viewing high spatial frequency houses, linked to the N170 component. Greater activity in this component was associated with lower attractiveness ratings of faces.ConclusionsResults provide preliminary evidence of similar abnormal spatiotemporal activation in AN and BDD for configural/holistic information for appearance- and non-appearance-related stimuli. This suggests a common phenotype of abnormal early visual system functioning, which may contribute to perceptual distortions.

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Hemispheric Asymmetry in Visual Processing: An Erp Study on Spatial Frequency Gratings

10.20944/preprints202101.0031.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alice Mado Proverbio ◽

and Alberto Zani

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Visual Information ◽

Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽

High Spatial Frequency ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Repeated Measure ◽

Sensory Response ◽

Visual Responses ◽

Related Potentials

A hemispheric asymmetry is known for the processing of global vs. local visual information. In this study, we investigated the existence of a hemispheric asymmetry for visual processing of low vs. high spatial frequency gratings. Event-related potentials were recorded in a group of healthy right-handed volunteers from 30 scalp sites. Six types of stimuli (1.5, 3 and 6 c/deg gratings) were randomly flashed 180 times in the left and right upper hemi-fields. Stimulus duration was 80 ms and ISI ranged between 850-1000 ms. Participants had to pay attention and respond to targets based on their spatial frequency and location, or to passively look at the stimuli. C1 and P1 visual responses, as well as a later Selection negativity and a P300 components of ERPs were quantified and subjected to repeated-measure ANOVAs. Overall, performance was faster for the RVF, thus suggesting a left hemispheric advantage for attentional selection of local elements. Similarly, the analysis of mean area amplitude of C1 (60-110 ms) sensory response showed a stronger attentional effect (F+L+ vs. F-L+) at left occipital areas, thus suggesting the sensory nature of this hemispheric asymmetry.

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Hemispheric Asymmetry in Visual Processing: An ERP Study on Spatial Frequency Gratings

Symmetry ◽

10.3390/sym13020180 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 180

Author(s):

Alice Mado Proverbio ◽

Alberto Zani

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽

High Spatial Frequency ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Repeated Measure ◽

Right Visual Field ◽

Sensory Response ◽

Visual Responses ◽

Related Potentials

A hemispheric asymmetry for the processing of global versus local visual information is known. In this study, we investigated the existence of a hemispheric asymmetry for the visual processing of low versus high spatial frequency gratings. The event-related potentials were recorded in a group of healthy right-handed volunteers from 30 scalp sites. Six types of stimuli (1.5, 3 and 6 c/deg gratings) were randomly flashed 180 times in the left and right upper hemifields. The stimulus duration was 80 ms, and the interstimulus interval (ISI) ranged between 850 and 1000 ms. Participants paid attention and responded to targets based on their spatial frequency and location. The C1 and P1 visual responses, as well as a later selection negativity and a P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs), were quantified and subjected to repeated-measure analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Overall, the performance was faster for the right visual field (RVF), thus suggesting a left hemispheric advantage for the attentional selection of local elements. Similarly, the analysis of the mean area amplitude of the C1 (60–110 ms) sensory response showed a stronger attentional effect (F+L+ vs. F−L+) at the left occipital areas, thus suggesting the sensory nature of this hemispheric asymmetry.

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Visual Gnosis and Face Perception

International Journal of Computational Models and Algorithms in Medicine ◽

10.4018/ijcmam.2012100102 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 11-20

Author(s):

Shozo Tobimatsu

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Face Perception ◽

Time Windows ◽

High Spatial Frequency ◽

Early Time ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Temporal Region ◽

The Face ◽

Related Potentials

There are two major parallel pathways in humans: the parvocellular (P) and magnocellular (M) pathways. The former has excellent spatial resolution with color selectivity, while the latter shows excellent temporal resolution with high contrast sensitivity. Visual stimuli should be tailored to answer specific clinical and/or research questions. This chapter examines the neural mechanisms of face perception using event-related potentials (ERPs). Face stimuli of different spatial frequencies were used to investigate how low-spatial-frequency (LSF) and high-spatial-frequency (HSF) components of the face contribute to the identification and recognition of the face and facial expressions. The P100 component in the occipital area (Oz), the N170 in the posterior temporal region (T5/T6) and late components peaking at 270-390 ms (T5/T6) were analyzed. LSF enhanced P100, while N170 was augmented by HSF irrespective of facial expressions. This suggested that LSF is important for global processing of facial expressions, whereas HSF handles featural processing. There were significant amplitude differences between positive and negative LSF facial expressions in the early time windows of 270-310 ms. Subsequently, the amplitudes among negative HSF facial expressions differed significantly in the later time windows of 330–390 ms. Discrimination between positive and negative facial expressions precedes discrimination among different negative expressions in a sequential manner based on parallel visual channels. Interestingly, patients with schizophrenia showed decreased spatial frequency sensitivities for face processing. Taken together, the spatially filtered face images are useful for exploring face perception and recognition.

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Effects of low-level visual information and perceptual load on P1 and N170 responses to emotional faces

10.31234/osf.io/3rd5z ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sebastian Schindler ◽

Maximilian Bruchmann ◽

Bettina Gathmann ◽

robert.moeck ◽

thomas straube

Keyword(s):

Visual Information ◽

Perceptual Load ◽

Visual Stimulation ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Visual Features ◽

Early Event ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Low Level ◽

N170 Component ◽

Related Potentials

Emotional facial expressions lead to modulations of early event-related potentials (ERPs). However, it has so far remained unclear in how far these modulations represent face-specific effects rather than differences in low-level visual features, and to which extent they depend on available processing resources. To examine these questions, we conducted two preregistered independent experiments (N = 40 in each experiment) using different variants of a novel task which manipulates peripheral perceptual load across levels but keeps overall visual stimulation constant. Centrally, task-irrelevant angry, neutral and happy faces and their Fourier phase-scrambled versions, which preserved low-level visual features, were presented. The results of both studies showed load-independent P1 and N170 emotion effects. Importantly, we could confirm by using Bayesian analyses that these emotion effects were face-independent for the P1 but not for the N170 component. We conclude that firstly, ERP modulations during the P1 interval strongly depend on low-level visual information, while the emotional N170 modulation requires the processing of figural facial features. Secondly, both P1 and N170 modulations appear to be immune to a large range of variations in perceptual load.

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Automatic Versus Contingent Mechanisms of Sensory-Driven Neural Biasing and Reflexive Attention

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/0898929055002445 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 1341-1352 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Joseph B. Hopfinger ◽

Anthony J. Ries

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Visual Information ◽

Response Times ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Top Down ◽

Manual Response ◽

Reflexive Attention ◽

Manual Responses ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Brain

Recent studies have generated debate regarding whether reflexive attention mechanisms are triggered in a purely automatic stimulus-driven manner. Behavioral studies have found that a nonpredictive “cue” stimulus will speed manual responses to subsequent targets at the same location, but only if that cue is congruent with actively maintained top-down settings for target detection. When a cue is incongruent with top-down settings, response times are unaffected, and this has been taken as evidence that reflexive attention mechanisms were never engaged in those conditions. However, manual response times may mask effects on earlier stages of processing. Here, we used event-related potentials to investigate the interaction of bottom-up sensory-driven mechanisms and top-down control settings at multiple stages of processing in the brain. Our results dissociate sensory-driven mechanisms that automatically bias early stages of visual processing from later mechanisms that are contingent on top-down control. An early enhancement of target processing in the extrastriate visual cortex (i.e., the P1 component) was triggered by the appearance of a unique bright cue, regardless of top-down settings. The enhancement of visual processing was prolonged, however, when the cue was congruent with top-down settings. Later processing in posterior temporal-parietal regions (i.e., the ipsilateral invalid negativity) was triggered automatically when the cue consisted of the abrupt appearance of a single new object. However, in cases where more than a single object appeared during the cue display, this stage of processing was contingent on top-down control. These findings provide evidence that visual information processing is biased at multiple levels in the brain, and the results distinguish automatically triggered sensory-driven mechanisms from those that are contingent on top-down control settings.

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Selective Attention to Spatial Frequency Gratings Affects Visual Processing as Early as 60 MSEC. Poststimulus

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.109.1.140-158 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 109 (1) ◽

pp. 140-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Alberto Zani ◽

Alice Mado Proverbio

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Spatial Frequency ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Striate Cortex ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Mean Amplitude ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Sensory Activity ◽

Sensory Evoked ◽

Selection Mechanisms

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from occipital sites to investigate early selection mechanisms and to determine the time at which attention modifies the processing activity of the visual cortex in humans. 19 right-handed participants served as paid volunteers. The task consisted in paying selective attention to a combination of spatial frequency and location and then responding to target stimuli while ignoring other combinations of features. Sensory-evoked components were analyzed by measuring mean amplitude values within the latency ranges of 60–80, 80–100, 100–120, and 120–140 msec, poststimulus. Stimuli relevant in frequency and/or location elicited larger evoked CI responses than unattended stimuli as early as 60–80 msec, poststimulus, a range that likely corresponds to sensory activity in the striate cortex, although due to the small number of recording sites, the activity could not be precisely localized.

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Lack of awareness despite complex visual processing: Evidence from event-related potentials in a case of selective metamorphopsia

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2000424117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (27) ◽

pp. 16055-16064 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Teresa M. Schubert ◽

David Rothlein ◽

Trevor Brothers ◽

Emily L. Coderre ◽

Kerry Ledoux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Visual Awareness ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

N170 Component ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Word Detection ◽

Related Potentials ◽

High Level

Visual awareness is thought to result from integration of low- and high-level processing; instances of integration failure provide a crucial window into the cognitive and neural bases of awareness. We present neurophysiological evidence of complex cognitive processing in the absence of awareness, raising questions about the conditions necessary for visual awareness. We describe an individual with a neurodegenerative disease who exhibits impaired visual awareness for the digits 2 to 9, and stimuli presented in close proximity to these digits, due to perceptual distortion. We identified robust event-related potential responses indicating 1) face detection with the N170 component and 2) task-dependent target-word detection with the P3b component, despite no awareness of the presence of faces or target words. These data force us to reconsider the relationship between neural processing and visual awareness; even stimuli processed by a workspace-like cognitive system can remain inaccessible to awareness. We discuss how this finding challenges and constrains theories of visual awareness.

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Neural and Temporal Dynamics Underlying Visual Selection for Action

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.01079.2009 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 104 (2) ◽

pp. 972-983 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

M. van Elk ◽

H. T. van Schie ◽

S.F.W. Neggers ◽

H. Bekkering

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Visual Information ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Early Stage ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Lateral Occipital Complex ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Selection For ◽

Selection For Action

The present study investigated the selection for action hypothesis, according to which a subject's action intention to perform a movement influences the way in which visual information is being processed. Subjects were instructed in separate blocks either to grasp or to point to a three-dimensional target-object and event-related potentials were recorded relative to stimulus onset. It was found that grasping compared with pointing resulted in a stronger N1 component and a subsequent selection negativity, which were localized to the lateral occipital complex. These effects suggest that the intention to grasp influences the processing of action-relevant features in ventral stream areas already at an early stage (e.g., enhanced processing of object orientation for grasping). These findings provide new insight in the neural and temporal dynamics underlying perception–action coupling and provide neural evidence for a selection for action principle in early human visual processing.

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NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND THE NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF PERCEPTUAL MICROGENESIS

Acta Neuropsychologica ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0010.7243 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 365-389

Author(s):

Maria Pąchalska ◽

Jolanta Góral-Pólrola ◽

Andreas Mueller ◽

Juri D. Kropotov

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Information Processing ◽

Visual Information ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Point Of View ◽

Visual Stream ◽

Basic Premise ◽

Independent Components ◽

Related Potentials

Perception is one of the psychological operations that can be analyzed from the point of view of microgenetic theory. Our study tests the basic premise of microgenesis theory – the existence of recurrent stages of visual information processing. The event related potentials in two variants of a cued GO/NOGO task (contrasting images of Animals and Plants in the first variant, and contrasting images of Angry and Happy faces in the second variant) were studied during the first 300 ms following stimulus presentation. The independent component analysis was applied to a large collection of ERPs. The functional independent components associated with visual category discrimination, comparison to working memory, action initiation and conflict detection were separated. Information processing in the ventral visual stream (the temporal independent components) occurs at two sequential stages with positive/negative fluctuations of the cortical potential as indexes of the stages. The first stage represents the comparison of the pure physical features of the visual input with the memory trace. The second stage represents the comparison of more sophisticated semantic/emotional features with the working memory. The two stages are the results of interplay between bottom-up and top-down projections in the visual ventral stream.

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Abnormalities of object visual processing in body dysmorphic disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291711000572 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 41 (11) ◽

pp. 2385-2397 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

J. D. Feusner ◽

E. Hembacher ◽

H. Moller ◽

T. D. Moody

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽

High Spatial Frequency ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Occipital Cortex ◽

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽

Lower Activity ◽

Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽

Blood Oxygen Level

BackgroundIndividuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) may have perceptual distortions for their appearance. Previous studies suggest imbalances in detailed relative to configural/holistic visual processing when viewing faces. No study has investigated the neural correlates of processing non-symptom-related stimuli. The objective of this study was to determine whether individuals with BDD have abnormal patterns of brain activation when viewing non-face/non-body object stimuli.MethodFourteen medication-free participants with DSM-IV BDD and 14 healthy controls participated. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants matched photographs of houses that were unaltered, contained only high spatial frequency (HSF, high detail) information or only low spatial frequency (LSF, low detail) information. The primary outcome was group differences in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes.ResultsThe BDD group showed lower activity in the parahippocampal gyrus, lingual gyrus and precuneus for LSF images. There were greater activations in medial prefrontal regions for HSF images, although no significant differences when compared to a low-level baseline. Greater symptom severity was associated with lower activity in the dorsal occipital cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex for normal spatial frequency (NSF) and HSF images.ConclusionsIndividuals with BDD have abnormal brain activation patterns when viewing objects. Hypoactivity in visual association areas for configural and holistic (low detail) elements and abnormal allocation of prefrontal systems for details are consistent with a model of imbalances in global versus local processing. This may occur not only for appearance but also for general stimuli unrelated to their symptoms.

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