Altered Visual Adaptation to Body Shape in Eating Disorders: Implications for Body Image Distortion

Mohr, Harald M.; Rickmeyer, Constanze; Hummel, Dennis; Ernst, Mareike; Grabhorn, Ralph

doi:10.1177/0301006616633385

Cited by 46 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This effect has been replicated using more realistic computer generated bodies18 and real photographs36. Importantly, researchers have demonstrated that body size aftereffects can transfer between adaptation images of other individuals and test images depicting one’s self171937. This kind of cross-adaptation is necessary if the mechanism of adaptation is to provide an explanation for real-world examples of body size misperception and the link with exposure to images of thin models in the media.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…However, there is growing evidence that the relationship between exposure to different bodies and body size misperception may be mediated by a perceptual adaptation effect. While the early literature concentrated on linking examples of media exposure and body size misperception outside the laboratory, more recent experimental studies have established a causal link under controlled conditions1718192021.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Independent Aftereffects of Fat and Muscle: Implications for neural encoding, body space representation, and body image disturbance

Sturman

Stephen

Mond

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Although research addressing body size misperception has focused on socio-cognitive processes, such as internalization of the “ideal” images of bodies in the media, the perceptual basis of this phenomenon remains largely unknown. Further, most studies focus on body size per se even though this depends on both fat and muscle mass – variables that have very different relationships with health. We tested visual adaptation as a mechanism for inducing body fat and muscle mass misperception, and assessed whether these two dimensions of body space are processed independently. Observers manipulated the apparent fat and muscle mass of bodies to make them appear “normal” before and after inspecting images from one of four adaptation conditions (increased fat/decreased fat/increased muscle/decreased muscle). Exposure resulted in a shift in the point of subjective normality in the direction of the adapting images along the relevant (fat or muscle) axis, suggesting that the neural mechanisms involved in body fat and muscle perception are independent. This supports the viability of adaptation as a model of real-world body size misperception, and extends its applicability to clinical manifestations of body image disturbance that entail not only preoccupation with thinness (e.g., anorexia nervosa) but also with muscularity (e.g., muscle dysmorphia).

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confidence: 88%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent Aftereffects of Fat and Muscle: Implications for neural encoding, body space representation, and body image disturbance

Sturman

Stephen

Mond

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…One possible candidate may be the degree of attention that is paid to the environmental stimuli, with some individuals selectively attending to the size of bodies more than others. More recently, it has been shown that, while eating disordered patients show normal adaptation aftereffects following exposure to images of fat bodies, they do not show the expected aftereffects following exposure to images of thin bodies, suggesting that “pre-adaptation” to thin bodies may be a characteristic of eating disorders (Mohr et al, 2016). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No Effect of Featural Attention on Body Size Aftereffects

et al. 2016

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Prolonged exposure to images of narrow bodies has been shown to induce a perceptual aftereffect, such that observers’ point of subjective normality (PSN) for bodies shifts toward narrower bodies. The converse effect is shown for adaptation to wide bodies. In low-level stimuli, object attention (attention directed to the object) and spatial attention (attention directed to the location of the object) have been shown to increase the magnitude of visual aftereffects, while object-based attention enhances the adaptation effect in faces. It is not known whether featural attention (attention directed to a specific aspect of the object) affects the magnitude of adaptation effects in body stimuli. Here, we manipulate the attention of Caucasian observers to different featural information in body images, by asking them to rate the fatness or sex typicality of male and female bodies manipulated to appear fatter or thinner than average. PSNs for body fatness were taken at baseline and after adaptation, and a change in PSN (ΔPSN) was calculated. A body size adaptation effect was found, with observers who viewed fat bodies showing an increased PSN, and those exposed to thin bodies showing a reduced PSN. However, manipulations of featural attention to body fatness or sex typicality produced equivalent results, suggesting that featural attention may not affect the strength of the body size aftereffect.

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“…These visual adaptation effects are observed in a range of low-level properties of stimuli, including orientation, colour, depth, and spatial frequency (Thompson and Burr, 2009). More recently, visual adaptation has been demonstrated in higher-level stimulus properties, including the identity (Rhodes et al, 2011) and gender (Yang et al, 2011) of faces, and the size and shape of bodies (Mohr et al, 2016;Sturman et al, 2017). For bodies, exposure to wide (narrow) figures causes a change in perceived size such that subsequently viewed This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article body images appear narrower (wider) than they are (Challinor et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Recently, it has been suggested that visual adaptation may offer a mechanism for the development of both over-and underestimation of body size (Challinor et al, 2017;Mohr et al, 2016;Sturman et al, 2017). Visual adaptation is a phenomenon whereby prolonged exposure to a particular stimulus (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Thin White Line: Adaptation suggests a common neural mechanism for judgements of Asian and Caucasian body size

Gould-Fensom¹,

Tan²,

Brooks³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Visual adaptation has been proposed as a mechanism linking viewing images of thin women’s bodies with body size and shape misperception (BSSM). Non-Caucasian populations appear less susceptible to BSSM, possibly because adaptation to thin Caucasian bodies in Western media may not fully transfer to own-race bodies. Experiment 1 used a cross-adaptation paradigm to examine the transfer of body size aftereffects across races. Large aftereffects were found in the predicted directions for all conditions. The strength of aftereffects was statistically equivalent when the race of test stimuli was congruent vs incongruent with the race of adaptation stimuli, suggesting complete transfer of aftereffects across races. Experiment 2 used a contingent-adaptation paradigm, finding that simultaneous adaptation to wide Asian and narrow Caucasian women’s bodies (or vice versa) results in no significant aftereffects for either congruent or incongruent conditions, and statistically equivalent results for each. Equal and opposite adaptation effects may therefore transfer completely across races, cancelling each other out. This suggests that body size is encoded by a race-general neural mechanism. Unexpectedly, Asian observers showed reduced body size aftereffects compared to Caucasian observers, regardless of the race of stimulus bodies, perhaps helping to explain why Asian populations appear less susceptible to BSSM.

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Altered Visual Adaptation to Body Shape in Eating Disorders: Implications for Body Image Distortion

Cited by 46 publications

References 62 publications

Independent Aftereffects of Fat and Muscle: Implications for neural encoding, body space representation, and body image disturbance

Independent Aftereffects of Fat and Muscle: Implications for neural encoding, body space representation, and body image disturbance

No Effect of Featural Attention on Body Size Aftereffects

The Thin White Line: Adaptation suggests a common neural mechanism for judgements of Asian and Caucasian body size

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