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

Gould-Fensom, Lewis; Tan, Chrystalle B. Y.; Brooks, Kevin; Mond, Jon; stevenson, Dick; Stephen, Ian D.

doi:10.31234/osf.io/f7q64

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…As in the current study, cross-adaptation was also demonstrated, suggesting that the selectivity for self/other was only partial. In contrast, Gould-Fensom et al (2019) were unable to show any contingent body size and shape adaptation using bodies from different racial groups (East Asian and Caucasian). A demonstration of 100% cross-adaptation between bodies from the two groups in a second experiment confirmed that the neurons are race-agnostic, suggesting that the lack of contingent aftereffects is likely to be due to substantial transfer and cancelation of aftereffects that are opposite in direction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Gender and the Body Size Aftereffect: Implications for Neural Processing

et al. 2019

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Prolonged exposure to wide (thin) bodies causes a perceptual aftereffect such that subsequently viewed bodies appear thinner (wider) than they actually are. This phenomenon is known as visual adaptation. We used the adaptation paradigm to examine the gender selectivity of the neural mechanisms encoding body size and shape. Observers adjusted female and male test bodies to appear normal-sized both before and after adaptation to bodies digitally altered to appear heavier or lighter. In Experiment 1, observers adapted simultaneously to bodies of each gender distorted in opposite directions, e.g., thin females and wide males. The direction of resultant aftereffects was contingent on the gender of the test stimulus, such that in this example female test bodies appeared wider while male test bodies appeared thinner. This indicates at least some separation of the neural mechanisms processing body size and shape for the two genders. In Experiment 2, adaptation involved either wide females, thin females, wide males or thin males. Aftereffects were present in all conditions, but were stronger when test and adaptation genders were congruent, suggesting some overlap in the tuning of gender-selective neural mechanisms. Given that visual adaptation has been implicated in real-world examples of body size and shape misperception (e.g., in anorexia nervosa or obesity), these results may have implications for the development of body image therapies based on the adaptation model.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Gender and the Body Size Aftereffect: Implications for Neural Processing

et al. 2019

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“…Visual adaptation studies have done much to uncover the details of the processes that underlie the perception of body size and shape. Neural substrates have been shown to be high-level, nonretinotopic structures (Brooks et al, 2018) whose neurons show some selectivity for identity (e.g., self vs. other: Brooks et al, 2016) and gender (Brooks, Baldry, et al, 2019) but do not discriminate on the basis of race (Gould-Fensom et al, 2019). There also appear to be independent neural populations responsible for the perception of fat and muscle mass.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As was the case with self/other, aftereffects were found to transfer partially between stimuli of different genders, suggesting that the neural mechanisms responsible for our perception of body size and shape are partially sex-selective (Brooks, Baldry, et al, 2019). However, when adaptors and test stimuli differed in terms of race (here, representing White and East Asian subjects whose faces were clearly visible), aftereffects were just as large as when adaptors and test stimuli belonged to the same racial group (Gould-Fensom et al, 2019). This suggests that those same neural mechanisms are race-insensitive, at least for the two racial categories used in this study.…”

Section: From Media To Mirror: Viewing Others’ Bodies Causes Mispercementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, faces are often obscured to avoid any possibility of face adaptation contributing to the results (see Palumbo, Laeng, & Tommasi, 2013), making each body hard to identify. In Gould-Fensom et al (2019), faces were included to allow effortless racial categorization for the stimuli. Face adaptation was precluded by ensuring that faces were identical regardless of the level of fat simulated in each body.…”

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Looking at the Figures: Visual Adaptation as a Mechanism for Body-Size and -Shape Misperception

Brooks

Mond

Mitchison

et al. 2019

Perspect Psychol Sci

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Many individuals experience body-size and -shape misperception (BSSM). Body-size overestimation is associated with body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and the development of eating disorders in individuals who desire to be thinner. Similar symptoms have been noted for those who underestimate their muscularity. Conversely, individuals with high body mass indices (BMI) who underestimate their adiposity may not recognize the risks of or seek help for obesity-related medical issues. Although social scientists have examined whether media representations of idealized bodies contribute to the overestimation of fat or underestimation of muscle, other scientists suggest that increases in the prevalence of obesity could explain body-fat underestimation as a form of renormalization. However, these disparate approaches have not advanced our understanding of the perceptual underpinnings of BSSM. Recently, a new unifying account of BSSM has emerged that is based on the long-established phenomenon of visual adaptation, employing psychophysical measurements of perceived size and shape following exposure to “extreme” body stimuli. By inducing BSSM in the laboratory as an aftereffect, this technique is rapidly advancing our understanding of the underlying mental representation of human bodies. This nascent approach provides insight into real-world BSSM and may inform the development of therapeutic and public-health interventions designed to address such perceptual errors.

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“…As in the current study, cross-adaptation was also demonstrated, suggesting that the selectivity for self/other was only partial. In contrast, (Gould-Fensom et al, 2019) were unable to show any contingent body size and shape adaptation using bodies from different racial groups (East Asian and Caucasian). A demonstration of 100% cross-adaptation between bodies from the two groups in a second experiment confirmed that the neurons are race-agnostic, suggesting that the lack of contingent aftereffects is likely to be due to substantial transfer and cancellation of aftereffects that are opposite in direction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Gender and the Body Size and Shape Aftereffect: Implications for neural processing

Kr¹,

Baldry²,

Mond³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Prolonged exposure to wide (thin) bodies causes a perceptual aftereffect such that subsequently-viewed bodies appear thinner (wider) than they actually are. This phenomenon is known as visual adaptation. We used the adaptation paradigm to examine the gender selectivity of the neural mechanisms encoding body size and shape. Observers adjusted female and male test bodies to appear normal-sized both before and after adaptation to bodies digitally altered to appear heavier or lighter. In Experiment 1, observers adapted simultaneously to bodies of each gender distorted in opposite directions, e.g. thin females and wide males. The direction of resultant aftereffects was contingent on the gender of the test stimulus, such that in this example female test bodies appeared wider while male test bodies appeared thinner. This indicates at least some separation of the neural mechanisms processing body size and shape for the two genders. In Experiment 2, adaptation involved either wide females, thin females, wide males or thin males. Aftereffects were present in all conditions, but were stronger when test and adaptation genders were congruent, suggesting some overlap in the tuning of gender-selective neural mechanisms. Given that visual adaptation has been implicated in real-world examples of body size and shape misperception (e.g. in anorexia nervosa or obesity), these results may have implications for the development of body image therapies based on the adaptation model.

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

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Gender and the Body Size Aftereffect: Implications for Neural Processing

Gender and the Body Size Aftereffect: Implications for Neural Processing

Looking at the Figures: Visual Adaptation as a Mechanism for Body-Size and -Shape Misperception

Gender and the Body Size and Shape Aftereffect: Implications for neural processing

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