Abstract
Objective: Disturbance of body perception is a central aspect of anorexia nervosa (AN) and several neuroimaging studies have documented structural and functional alterations of occipito-temporal cortices involved in visual body processing. However, it is unclear whether these perceptual deficits involve more basic aspects of others' body perception. Method: A consecutive sample of 15 adolescent patients with AN were compared with a group of 15 age- and gender-matched controls in delayed matching to sample tasks requiring the visual discrimination of the form or of the action of others' body. Results: Patients showed better visual discrimination performance than controls in detail-based processing of body forms but not of body actions, which positively correlated with their increased tendency to convert a signal of punishment into a signal of reinforcement (higher persistence scores). Discussion: The paradoxical advantage of patients with AN in detail-based body processing may be associated to their tendency to routinely explore body parts as a consequence of their obsessive worries about body appearance.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 501-511 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | International Journal of Eating Disorders |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2012 |
Keywords
- anorexia nervosa
- body perception
- extrastriate body area
- neuropsychology: eating disorders
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health