Neural mechanisms of perceptive and affective processing of body stimuli in Anorexia nervosa – are there developmental effects?

AbstractObjectiveDifferent components of body image processing seem to be reflected by different neural mechanisms. A core symptom of Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disturbance of body image with correlates found on a neural level. The present study focusses at the neural processing of visual body stimuli of different weight categories in adolescent and adult AN patients.Method33 adolescents aged 12–18 years (15 AN patients, 18 control participants) and 36 adult women (19 AN patients, 17 control participants) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a perceptive and an affective body image task involving photographic stimuli of women belonging to different BMI categories.ResultsDifferential effects on activation depending on the BMI of the women shown in the pictures were found in frontal brain regions, the thalamus, caudate and the fusiform gyrus. Group effects differentiating between AN patients and control participants were seen mainly in the caudate and insula.DiscussionDuring a perceptive task, diminished activation of regions involved in perceptive and evaluative functions as well as emotional reasoning was seen in AN. During evaluation of the neural processing in an affective task there was a tendency towards activation differences reflecting reduced ability of size estimation and impaired integration of visual and body perception with emotions.

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Body Image in Anorexia Nervosa

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/070674378102600404 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 224-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

David M. Garner

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Body Satisfaction ◽

Body Part ◽

The Body ◽

Size Perception ◽

Whole Body ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Psychological Disturbance ◽

Body Image Disturbances

Despite much recent interest in the objective measurement of body image in anorexia nervosa, many questions remain regarding basic mechanisms responsible for the findings as well as their meaning in the disorder. It is unclear if “whole body” measures assess the same underlying phenomena as the “body part” method, and it is unclear if body image disturbances are etiologic or a byproduct of anorexia nervosa. The possible association between self-esteem and body satisfaction and the relationship of the latter variable to actual size estimation supports the hypothesis that size perception may be closely tied to satisfaction with non-physical aspects of self. Finally it must be determined if over estimation is a function of a general psychological disturbance or of a deficit of specific interest in this disorder. Despite these questions, the way in which anorexic patients see themselves as well as the cognitive and affective responses to this perception remains an interesting and potentially fruitful area of study with this disorder.

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The relationship between body-image and body-fat in adult women

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700008308 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 623-631 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

D. A. Brodie ◽

P. D. Slade

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Body Fat ◽

Body Satisfaction ◽

Self Report ◽

Impedance Method ◽

Adult Women ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Satisfaction Scale ◽

Psychological Variables ◽

Visual Size

SynopsisMeasures of body-fat or adiposity, body-image, and other psychological variables were obtained from a sample of 100 female volunteer subjects. The measures of adiposity included surface anthropometry, underwater weighing and a new electrical impedance method. Body-image measures were derived from two experimental techniques, namely the visual-size estimation (or calliper) method and a distorting-mirror, and also from a self-report body-satisfaction scale (BSS).The main findings were that measures of adiposity were positively and significantly related to each other. But, that by contrast, measures of body-image separated out into three distinct sets, namely: (i) ‘mirror’ accuracy, (2) ‘callipers’ accuracy, and (3) ‘dissatisfaction/desire for change’. The ‘accuracy’ measures were found to be unrelated to measures of adiposity or other psychological variables: while the ‘dissatisfaction’ measures were found to relate to both of these. The implications of these findings for future studies of weight and eating disorder groups are discussed.

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Disturbances in Body Image Estimation as Related to Other Characteristics and Outcome in Anorexia Nervosa

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.134.1.60 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 134 (1) ◽

pp. 60-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 122

Author(s):

Regina C. Casper ◽

Katherine A. Halmi ◽

Solomon C. Goldberg ◽

Elke D. Eckert ◽

John M. Davis

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Weight Gain ◽

Image Distortion ◽

Control Group ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Body Image Distortion ◽

Image Estimation ◽

Visual Size ◽

Female Control

SummaryBody image distortion in 79 female anorexia nervosa patients were examined on a visual-size estimation apparatus during the emaciated stage of illness. Both they and an age-matched female control group overestimated their body widths, so this overestimation cannot be considered unique to anorexia nervosa. Among anorexia patients the degree of overestimation was associated with less weight gain during treatment, greater denial of illness, and several other pretreatment characteristics indicative of poor outcome.

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Body-Size Estimation in Anorexia Nervosa

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1995.81.1.23 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 23-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Enrico Molinari

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Body Size ◽

The Body ◽

Control Group ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Image Perception ◽

Pelvic Area ◽

Body Size Estimation ◽

Different Parts

The aim was to explore the body-image perception of a group of 20 hospitalised anorexic patients, aged 18 to 21 years, undergoing a period of treatment. The instrument used was the Askevold nonverbal perception test as modified by Allamani and colleagues in 1978 to assess perception of the dimensions of different parts of the body by exploiting the capacity to project them into space. The four parts were the head, the thoracic area, the abdominal area, and the pelvic area. Analysis of responses indicated that anorexic patients overestimated the abdominal and the pelvic areas much more than the 20 members of the control group (50% vs 30%). The areas of the head and thorax were perceived almost in their real dimensions by the anorexic patients but were underestimated by the control group.

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Assessing body image in anorexia nervosa using biometric self-avatars in virtual reality: Attitudinal components rather than visual body size estimation are distorted

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291717002008 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 642-653 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

S. C. Mölbert ◽

A. Thaler ◽

B. J. Mohler ◽

S. Streuber ◽

J. Romero ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Body Weight ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Body Image Disturbance ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Eating Disorder Symptoms ◽

Body Size Estimation

BackgroundBody image disturbance (BID) is a core symptom of anorexia nervosa (AN), but as yet distinctive features of BID are unknown. The present study aimed at disentangling perceptual and attitudinal components of BID in AN.MethodsWe investigated n = 24 women with AN and n = 24 controls. Based on a three-dimensional (3D) body scan, we created realistic virtual 3D bodies (avatars) for each participant that were varied through a range of ±20% of the participants’ weights. Avatars were presented in a virtual reality mirror scenario. Using different psychophysical tasks, participants identified and adjusted their actual and their desired body weight. To test for general perceptual biases in estimating body weight, a second experiment investigated perception of weight and shape matched avatars with another identity.ResultsWomen with AN and controls underestimated their weight, with a trend that women with AN underestimated more. The average desired body of controls had normal weight while the average desired weight of women with AN corresponded to extreme AN (DSM-5). Correlation analyses revealed that desired body weight, but not accuracy of weight estimation, was associated with eating disorder symptoms. In the second experiment, both groups estimated accurately while the most attractive body was similar to Experiment 1.ConclusionsOur results contradict the widespread assumption that patients with AN overestimate their body weight due to visual distortions. Rather, they illustrate that BID might be driven by distorted attitudes with regard to the desired body. Clinical interventions should aim at helping patients with AN to change their desired weight.

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Homeostasis and food craving in obesity: a functional MRI study

International Journal of Obesity ◽

10.1038/s41366-021-00920-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

M. A. Stopyra ◽

H.-C. Friederich ◽

N. Lavandier ◽

E. Mönning ◽

M. Bendszus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Intake ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Neuronal Response ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Food Craving ◽

Neural Processing ◽

Food Cues ◽

Mri Study ◽

And Control

Abstract Objectives Food intake in obesity has been found to be reward-based and less contingent on homeostatic needs. Accordingly, previous studies investigating neural processing of food cues observed aberrant processing in reward- and control-related brain regions in obesity. To further investigate the relation between homeostasis and food intake, this study investigated the influence of glucose metabolism on the neuronal response during the regulation of food craving in participants with obesity. Methods Twenty-five normal-weight and 25 women with obesity were examined on two occasions after receiving either water or glucose directly into the stomach using a nasogastric tube. Participants were blinded to the type of infusion and were required to refrain from eating for 16 h before each visit. An event-related fMRI paradigm was used to investigate the effect of intestinal glucose load on the neuronal response during the regulation of food craving. Results A 2 × 2 mixed-model ANOVA revealed that craving regulation was associated with increased activation in fronto-parietal regions in participants with obesity when compared to healthy controls. However, this effect was observed independently from homeostatic satiety. A regression analysis revealed that the reduction of food craving was related to increased activation in the lingual gyrus in individuals with obesity following the infusion of water. Conclusions In participants with obesity, the neuronal response during the regulation of food craving is associated with increased neural cognitive top-down control and increased visual food processing. Since this observation was independent from satiety status, our results indicate a reduced influence of homeostasis on neural processing during food craving in obesity. This study was registered on clinicaltrials.org: NCT03075371.

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Body image assessment using body size estimation in recent studies on anorexia nervosa. A brief review.

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry ◽

10.1007/s007870170010 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 215-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

S. Skrzypek ◽

P. M. Wehmeier ◽

H. Remschmidt

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Body Size ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Body Size Estimation ◽

Image Assessment

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