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Saramandi A, Crucianelli L, Koukoutsakis A, Nisticò V, Mavromara L, Goeta D, Boido G, Gonidakis F, Demartini B, Bertelli S, Gambini O, Jenkinson PM, Fotopoulou A. Updating Prospective Self-Efficacy Beliefs About Cardiac Interoception in Anorexia Nervosa: An Experimental and Computational Study. COMPUTATIONAL PSYCHIATRY (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2024; 8:92-118. [PMID: 38948255 PMCID: PMC11212784 DOI: 10.5334/cpsy.109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) typically hold altered beliefs about their body that they struggle to update, including global, prospective beliefs about their ability to know and regulate their body and particularly their interoceptive states. While clinical questionnaire studies have provided ample evidence on the role of such beliefs in the onset, maintenance, and treatment of AN, psychophysical studies have typically focused on perceptual and 'local' beliefs. Across two experiments, we examined how women at the acute AN (N = 86) and post-acute AN state (N = 87), compared to matched healthy controls (N = 180) formed and updated their self-efficacy beliefs retrospectively (Experiment 1) and prospectively (Experiment 2) about their heartbeat counting abilities in an adapted heartbeat counting task. As preregistered, while AN patients did not differ from controls in interoceptive accuracy per se, they hold and maintain 'pessimistic' interoceptive, metacognitive self-efficacy beliefs after performance. Modelling using a simplified computational Bayesian learning framework showed that neither local evidence from performance, nor retrospective beliefs following that performance (that themselves were suboptimally updated) seem to be sufficient to counter and update pessimistic, self-efficacy beliefs in AN. AN patients showed lower learning rates than controls, revealing a tendency to base their posterior beliefs more on prior beliefs rather than prediction errors in both retrospective and prospective belief updating. Further explorations showed that while these differences in both explicit beliefs, and the latent mechanisms of belief updating, were not explained by general cognitive flexibility differences, they were explained by negative mood comorbidity, even after the acute stage of illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alkistis Saramandi
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
| | - Laura Crucianelli
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Veronica Nisticò
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Aldo Ravelli Research Centre for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Liza Mavromara
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
- Eating Disorders’ Unit, 1st Department of Psychiatry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - Diana Goeta
- Psychiatry Unit, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, S. Carlo General Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Giovanni Boido
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Fragiskos Gonidakis
- Eating Disorders’ Unit, 1st Department of Psychiatry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - Benedetta Demartini
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Aldo Ravelli Research Centre for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan, Italy
- Psychiatry Unit, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, S. Carlo General Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Bertelli
- Psychiatry Unit, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, S. Paolo General Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Orsola Gambini
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Aldo Ravelli Research Centre for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan, Italy
- Psychiatry Unit, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, S. Paolo General Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Paul M. Jenkinson
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
- Faculty of Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, The Cairnmillar Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK
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2
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Gorman L, Sun W, Mathew J, Rezazadeh Z, Sulik J, Fairhurst M, Deroy O. Choice enhances touch pleasantness. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02887-6. [PMID: 38858303 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02887-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024]
Abstract
We value what we choose more than what is imposed upon us. Choice-induced preferences are extensively demonstrated using behavioural and neural methods, mainly involving rewarding objects such as money or material goods. However, the impact of choice on experiences, especially in the realm of affective touch, remains less explored. In this study, we specifically investigate whether choice can enhance the pleasure derived from affective touch, thereby increasing its intrinsic rewarding value. We conducted an experiment in which participants were being touched by an experimenter and asked to rate how pleasant their experience of touch was. They were given either a choice or no choice over certain touch stimulus variables which differed in their relevance: some were of low relevance (relating to the colour of the glove that the experimenter would use to touch them), while others were of high relevance (relating to the location on their arm where they would be stroked). Before and during touching, pupillometry was used to measure the level of arousal. We found that having a choice over aspects of tactile stimuli-especially those relevant to oneself-enhanced the pleasant perception of the touch. In addition, having a choice increases arousal in anticipation of touch. Regardless of how relevant it is to the actual tactile stimulus, allowing one to choose may positively enhance a person's perception of the physical contact they receive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lenka Gorman
- Cognition, Values, Behaviour Lab, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
- Chair of Philosophy of Mind, Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
| | - Wenhan Sun
- Cognition, Values, Behaviour Lab, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), 6G Life, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
- Chair of Acoustics and Haptics, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Jyothisa Mathew
- Institute for Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Zahra Rezazadeh
- Faculty of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Graduate School of Systemic Neuroscience, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Justin Sulik
- Cognition, Values, Behaviour Lab, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Merle Fairhurst
- Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), 6G Life, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
- Chair of Acoustics and Haptics, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ophelia Deroy
- Cognition, Values, Behaviour Lab, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Chair of Philosophy of Mind, Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich Center for Neuroscience, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
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3
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Reilly EE, Brown TA, Frank GKW. Perceptual Dysfunction in Eating Disorders. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38730196 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by abnormal responses to food and weight-related stimuli and are associated with significant distress, impairment, and poor outcomes. Because many of the cardinal symptoms of EDs involve disturbances in perception of one's body or abnormal affective or cognitive reactions to food intake and how that affects one's size, there has been longstanding interest in characterizing alterations in sensory perception among differing ED diagnostic groups. Within the current review, we aimed to critically assess the existing research on exteroceptive and interoceptive perception and how sensory perception may influence ED behavior. Overall, existing research is most consistent regarding alterations in taste, visual, tactile, and gastric-specific interoceptive processing in EDs, with emerging work indicating elevated respiratory and cardiovascular sensitivity. However, this work is far from conclusive, with most studies unable to speak to the precise etiology of observed perceptual differences in these domains and disentangle these effects from affective and cognitive processes observed within EDs. Further, existing knowledge regarding perceptual disturbances in EDs is limited by heterogeneity in methodology, lack of multimodal assessment protocols, and inconsistent attention to different ED diagnoses. We propose several new avenues for improving neurobiology-informed research on sensory processing to generate actionable knowledge that can inform the development of innovative interventions for these serious disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin E Reilly
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Tiffany A Brown
- Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Guido K W Frank
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
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Charbonneau JA, Santistevan AC, Raven EP, Bennett JL, Russ BE, Bliss-Moreau E. Evolutionarily conserved neural responses to affective touch in monkeys transcend consciousness and change with age. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2322157121. [PMID: 38648473 PMCID: PMC11067024 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2322157121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Affective touch-a slow, gentle, and pleasant form of touch-activates a different neural network than which is activated during discriminative touch in humans. Affective touch perception is enabled by specialized low-threshold mechanoreceptors in the skin with unmyelinated fibers called C tactile (CT) afferents. These CT afferents are conserved across mammalian species, including macaque monkeys. However, it is unknown whether the neural representation of affective touch is the same across species and whether affective touch's capacity to activate the hubs of the brain that compute socioaffective information requires conscious perception. Here, we used functional MRI to assess the preferential activation of neural hubs by slow (affective) vs. fast (discriminative) touch in anesthetized rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, and secondary somatosensory cortex were all significantly more active during slow touch relative to fast touch, suggesting homologous activation of the interoceptive-allostatic network across primate species during affective touch. Further, we found that neural responses to affective vs. discriminative touch in the insula and ACC (the primary cortical hubs for interoceptive processing) changed significantly with age. Insula and ACC in younger animals differentiated between slow and fast touch, while activity was comparable between conditions for aged monkeys (equivalent to >70 y in humans). These results, together with prior studies establishing conserved peripheral nervous system mechanisms of affective touch transduction, suggest that neural responses to affective touch are evolutionarily conserved in monkeys, significantly impacted in old age, and do not necessitate conscious experience of touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joey A. Charbonneau
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Davis, CA95616
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Anthony C. Santistevan
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA95616
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Erika P. Raven
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY10016
| | - Jeffrey L. Bennett
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA95616
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA95817
- The Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, University of California, Sacramento, CA95817
| | - Brian E. Russ
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY10962
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY10029
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY10029
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone, New York, NY10016
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA95616
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
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Crucianelli L, Radziun D, Ehrsson HH. Thermosensation and emotion: Thermosensory accuracy in a dynamic thermal matching task is linked to depression and anxiety symptomatology. Physiol Behav 2024; 273:114407. [PMID: 37967806 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Interoception is related to the generation of bodily feelings and the awareness of ourselves as 'sentient beings', informing the organism about its bodily needs to guarantee survival. Previous studies have reported links among interoception, emotion processing, and mental health. For example, the alignment of interoceptive dimensions (i.e., accuracy, sensibility, awareness) can predict emotional symptoms, such as anxiety. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the perception of a certain type of skin-mediated interoceptive signal, i.e., thermosensation, and self-reported depression, anxiety, and stress. One hundred seventy participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and a dynamic thermal matching task, a static temperature detection task, and a heartbeat counting task. Our results revealed that self-reported anxiety and depression were related to the perception of temperature on hairy and non-hairy skin, respectively: higher anxiety was related to better performance on the thermal matching task on the forearm, while higher depression was related to poorer performance on dynamic and static temperature tasks on the palm. Discrepancies between thermosensory accuracy and sensibility measures ('trait prediction error') were related to heightened anxiety, in line with previous studies. No significant correlations were found between DASS-21 scores and heartbeat counting accuracy. In conclusion, this study suggests that individual differences in thermosensory perception in different areas of the body are associated with self-reported anxiety and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crucianelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK.
| | - Dominika Radziun
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Cruciani G, Zingaretti P, Lingiardi V, De Filippis S, Haggard P, Spitoni GF. The perception of pain, discriminative touch and affective touch in patients suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. J Affect Disord 2023; 341:185-193. [PMID: 37657618 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is often characterized by self-injurious behaviors, with one-half to two-third of these patients reporting hypalgesic or analgesic phenomena during self-harming. Research on pain perception in BPD suggested abnormal processing of nociception either within the sensory-discriminative and/or motivational-affective systems of pain. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether pain insensitivity could be generalized to other somatosensory submodalities. To investigate this question, 30 BPD patients and 30 matched healthy controls were enrolled in the current study and underwent a somatosensory battery composed of well-established psychophysical test assessing all the principal submodalities of somatosensation, namely pain perception (i.e., warm, cold and mechanical), discriminative touch (i.e., tactile acuity and tactile sensitivity) as well as affective touch. Results showed abnormal warm detection threshold, warm pain threshold, mechanical pain perception, and tactile sensitivity in BPD patients, but no differences emerged neither for tactile acuity nor for cold pain thresholds, cold tolerance, or for affective touch perception. Findings point to a deficit in nociception, as well as in tactile sensitivity in BPD individuals, and were discussed in relation to BPD clinical features including self-injurious behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Cruciani
- Department of Psychology, PhD Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, Rome, Italy.
| | - Pietro Zingaretti
- Villa von Siebenthal Neuropsychiatric Hospital and Clinic, Via della Madonnina 1, Genzano di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Vittorio Lingiardi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Rome, Italy
| | - Sergio De Filippis
- Villa von Siebenthal Neuropsychiatric Hospital and Clinic, Via della Madonnina 1, Genzano di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Grazia Fernanda Spitoni
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306-354, Rome, Italy
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7
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Bellard A, Trotter PD, McGlone FL, Cazzato V. Role of medial prefrontal cortex and primary somatosensory cortex in self and other-directed vicarious social touch: a TMS study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad060. [PMID: 37837378 PMCID: PMC10640852 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Conflicting evidence points to the contribution of several key nodes of the 'social brain' to the processing of both discriminatory and affective qualities of interpersonal touch. Whether the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), two brain areas vital for tactile mirroring and affective mentalizing, play a functional role in shared representations of C-tactile (CT) targeted affective touch is still a matter of debate. Here, we used offline continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) to mPFC, S1 and vertex (control) prior to participants providing ratings of vicarious touch pleasantness for self and others delivered across several body sites at CT-targeted velocities. We found that S1-cTBS led to a significant increase in touch ratings to the self, with this effect being positively associated to levels of interoceptive awareness. Conversely, mPFC-cTBS reduced pleasantness ratings for touch to another person. These effects were not specific for CT-optimal (slow) stroking velocities, but rather they applied to all types of social touch. Overall, our findings challenge the causal role of the S1 and mPFC in vicarious affective touch and suggest that self- vs other-directed vicarious touch responses might crucially depend on the specific involvement of key social networks in gentle tactile interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh Bellard
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Paula D Trotter
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Francis L McGlone
- Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Valentina Cazzato
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
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8
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Gadsby S, Zopf R, Brooks KR, Schumann A, de la Cruz F, Rieger K, Murr J, Wutzler U, Bär KJ. Testing visual self-misperception in anorexia nervosa using a symmetrical body size estimation paradigm. Int J Eat Disord 2023; 56:2149-2154. [PMID: 37578207 DOI: 10.1002/eat.24030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN) often report seeing themselves as overweight. While body size estimation tasks suggest that such individuals overestimate their body size, these tasks have failed to establish whether this misestimation stems from visual misperception. Misestimation might, instead, be due to response bias. We designed a paradigm to distinguish between visual and response bias contributions to body size misestimation: the symmetrical body size estimation (s-BSE) paradigm. METHOD The s-BSE paradigm involves two tasks. In the conventional task, participants estimate the width of their photographed body by adjusting the size of a rectangle to match. In the transposed task, participants adjust the size of a photograph of their body to match the rectangle. If overestimation stems exclusively from visual misperception, then errors in each task would be equal and opposite. Using this paradigm, we compared the performance of women diagnosed with AN (n = 14) against women without any eating disorder (n = 40). RESULTS In the conventional task, we replicated previous findings indicating that both women with AN and women without any eating disorder overestimate their body size. In the transposed task, neither group adjusted the bodies to be narrower than the rectangle. Participants with AN set their photographs to be significantly wider. DISCUSSION While we replicated previous findings of body size overestimation amongst women with AN and those without any eating disorder, our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that such overestimation stems exclusively from visual misperception and instead suggest a substantial response bias effect. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE Women with anorexia nervosa overestimate their own body size. Research has not yet determined whether this overestimation stems from them seeing themselves as larger or other, non-visual factors. We employ a new method for distinguishing these possibilities and find that non-visual factors influence size estimates for women with and without anorexia nervosa. This method can help future research control for non-perceptual influences on participant responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Gadsby
- Centre for Philosophical Psychology, Department of Philosophy, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Regine Zopf
- Lab for Autonomic Neuroscience, Imaging and Cognition (LANIC), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Lifespan Health & Wellbeing Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andy Schumann
- Lab for Autonomic Neuroscience, Imaging and Cognition (LANIC), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Feliberto de la Cruz
- Lab for Autonomic Neuroscience, Imaging and Cognition (LANIC), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Katrin Rieger
- Lab for Autonomic Neuroscience, Imaging and Cognition (LANIC), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Julia Murr
- Asklepios Fachklinikum Stadtroda, Clinic for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Stadtroda, Germany
| | - Uwe Wutzler
- Asklepios Fachklinikum Stadtroda, Clinic for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Stadtroda, Germany
| | - Karl-Jürgen Bär
- Lab for Autonomic Neuroscience, Imaging and Cognition (LANIC), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
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9
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Kryklywy JH, Vyas P, Maclean KE, Todd RM. Characterizing affiliative touch in humans and its role in advancing haptic design. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1528:29-41. [PMID: 37596987 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
An emerging view in cognitive neuroscience holds that the extraction of emotional relevance from sensory experience extends beyond the centralized appraisal of sensation in associative brain regions, including frontal and medial-temporal cortices. This view holds that sensory information can be emotionally valenced from the point of contact with the world. This view is supported by recent research characterizing the human affiliative touch system, which carries signals of soft, stroking touch to the central nervous system and is mediated by dedicated C-tactile afferent receptors. This basic scientific research on the human affiliative touch system is informed by, and informs, technology design for communicating and regulating emotion through touch. Here, we review recent research on the basic biology and cognitive neuroscience of affiliative touch, its regulatory effects across the lifespan, and the factors that modulate it. We further review recent work on the design of haptic technologies, devices that stimulate the affiliative touch system, such as wearable technologies that apply the sensation of soft stroking or other skin-to-skin contact, to promote physiological regulation. We then point to future directions in interdisciplinary research aimed at both furthering scientific understanding and application of haptic technology for health and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Kryklywy
- Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
| | - Preeti Vyas
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Karon E Maclean
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Rebecca M Todd
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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10
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Colle L, Hilviu D, Boggio M, Toso A, Longo P, Abbate-Daga G, Garbarini F, Fossataro C. Abnormal sense of agency in eating disorders. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14176. [PMID: 37648816 PMCID: PMC10469170 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41345-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The feeling of controlling one's own actions and, through them, impacting the external environment (i.e. Sense of Agency-SoA) can be relevant in the eating disorders (EDs) symptomatology. Yet, it has been poorly investigated. This study aims to implicitly assess SoA exploiting the Sensory Attenuation paradigm in two groups of EDs patients (Anorexia Nervosa Restrictive and Anorexia Nervosa Binge-Purging or Bulimia Nervosa) compared to a control group. We find that controls perceive self-generated stimuli as less intense than other-generated ones showing the classic pattern of sensory attenuation. By contrast, EDs patients show the opposite pattern, with self-generated perceived as more intense than other-generated stimuli. This result indicates an alteration of the implicit component of the feeling of control in EDs patients, thus suggesting a potential implication of these results for the clinical practice and the treatment of EDs symptomatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livia Colle
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Dize Hilviu
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Monica Boggio
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Alessandra Toso
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy
| | - Paola Longo
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy
| | - Giovanni Abbate-Daga
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Carlotta Fossataro
- MANIBUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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11
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Tagini S, Scacchi M, Mauro A, Scarpina F. The perception of affective touch in women affected by obesity. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1171070. [PMID: 37701865 PMCID: PMC10493281 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1171070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Pleasant and comforting bodily contacts characterized intimate and affective interactions. Affective touch informs us about others' emotions and intentions, sustains intimacy and closeness, protecting from loneliness and psychological distress. Previous evidence points to an altered experience of affective touch in clinical populations reporting interpersonal difficulties. However, there is no investigation of affective touch in obesity, which is often associated with negative affective-relational experiences since childhood. Methods This study aimed to provide the first evidence about the experience of affective touch in obesity by comparing 14 women with obesity with 14 women with healthy weight. Participants rated the pleasantness of both imagined and actual tactile stimuli, which consisted of (i) soft-brush strokes, (ii) touches of the experimenter's hand, and (iii) of a plastic stick (as control, non-affective, stimulation). Participants should report the pleasantness of each kind of touch. Moreover, we explored lifespan experiences of affective touch and interpersonal pleasure in social contexts through self-report questionnaires. Results No differences emerged for the pleasantness of affective touch (in both the real and imagery task) between the two groups. However, participants with obesity reported less frequent and less satisfying early experiences of affective touch when compared with the controls. Discussion Our results spoke in favor of a preserved experience of affective touch when experimentally probed in obesity, despite a limited early exposure to bodily affective contacts. We interpreted our results in the light of the social reconnection hypothesis. Nevertheless, we provided crucial methodological considerations for future research, considering that both the experimenter's and the brush touch may not resemble adequately real-life experiences, in which affective touch involves intimate people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Tagini
- “Rita Levi Montalcini” Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, I.R.C.C.S., U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, Italy
| | - Massimo Scacchi
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, I.R.C.C.S., U.O. Medicina Generale, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandro Mauro
- “Rita Levi Montalcini” Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, I.R.C.C.S., U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, Italy
| | - Federica Scarpina
- “Rita Levi Montalcini” Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, I.R.C.C.S., U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, Italy
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12
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Bellard A, Mathew J, Sun W, Denkow L, Najm A, Michael-Grigoriou D, Trotter P, McGlone F, Fairhurst M, Cazzato V. Topography and relationship-specific social touching in individuals displaying body image disturbances. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13198. [PMID: 37580362 PMCID: PMC10425375 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39484-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal touch is intimately related to the emotional bond between the touch giver and the touch receiver. Which bodily regions we touch in those individuals in our social network is relationship specific. Perception of interpersonal touch is altered in psychiatric disorders characterised by body image disturbances (BIDs). Here, we examined whether the 'imagined' experience of social touch in individuals with BIDs is body topography- and relationship-specific. By using an interactive media mobile App, the Virtual Touch Toolkit, high versus low levels of BIDs participants completed heatmaps of full-body virtual avatars, to indicate the body regions they find soothing/unpleasant to be touched by a loved one versus an acquaintance. Self-reports of interoceptive awareness and dysmorphic concerns were also measured. Overall, imagined touch was rated as the most soothing when received from a loved one, and also when this was delivered to 'social' body regions. The importance of the social relationship for the imagined tactile interactions was particularly evident for the high levels of BIDs group, with greater problems with interoceptive awareness predicting higher soothing touch ratings when this was received by a loved one. Despite the evidence that imagined bodily contacts between meaningful people is the most pleasant for socially acceptable bodily regions, our findings may suggest a greater sensitivity to relation-specific bodily patterns of social touch particularly in the high level of BIDs group. Heightened interoceptive awareness may also play a key role in this experience of bodily affective contacts. Future research for body-oriented therapy for BIDs is encouraged to systematically probe the efficacy of imagined social touch interaction protocols which use more plausible, ecological, scenarios where touch is delivered by loved ones and to socially acceptable bodily regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh Bellard
- Faculty of Health, Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Jyothisa Mathew
- Department of Psychology, Bundeswehr Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Wenhan Sun
- Faculty of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, Munich Center for Neuroscience, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Linda Denkow
- Department of Psychology, Bundeswehr Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Ali Najm
- GET Lab, Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Despina Michael-Grigoriou
- GET Lab, Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Paula Trotter
- Faculty of Health, Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Francis McGlone
- Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Merle Fairhurst
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Centre for Tactile Internet With Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Valentina Cazzato
- Faculty of Health, Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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13
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Radziun D, Crucianelli L, Korczyk M, Szwed M, Ehrsson HH. The perception of affective and discriminative touch in blind individuals. Behav Brain Res 2023; 444:114361. [PMID: 36842553 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2023]
Abstract
Enhanced tactile acuity in blindness is among the most widely reported results of neuroplasticity following prolonged visual deprivation. However, tactile submodalities other than discriminative touch are profoundly understudied in blind individuals. Here, we examined the influence of blindness on two tactile submodalities, affective and discriminative touch, the former being vital for social functioning and emotional processing. We tested 36 blind individuals and 36 age- and sex-matched sighted volunteers. In Experiment 1, we measured the perception of affective tactile signals by asking participants to rate the pleasantness of touch delivered on the palm (nonhairy skin, sparsely innervated with C tactile [CT] fibers) or the forearm (hairy skin, densely innervated with CT fibers) in a CT-optimal versus a CT-nonoptimal manner using a paradigm grounded in studies on tactile sensory neurophysiology. In Experiment 2, we implemented a classic task assessing discriminative touch abilities, the grating orientation task. We found that blind individuals rated the touch as more pleasant when delivered on the palm than on the forearm, while the opposite pattern was observed for sighted participants, who rated stimulation on the forearm as more pleasant than stimulation on the palm. We also replicated the previous findings showing enhanced discriminative tactile acuity in blind individuals. Altogether, our results suggest that blind individuals might experience affective touch differently than sighted individuals, with relatively greater pleasantness perceived on the palm. These results provide a broader insight into somatosensory perception in blind individuals, for the first time taking into consideration the socioemotional aspect of touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominika Radziun
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Laura Crucianelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | | | - Marcin Szwed
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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14
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Tagini S, Bastoni I, Villa V, Mendolicchio L, Castelnuovo G, Mauro A, Scarpina F. Affective touch in anorexia nervosa: Exploring the role of social anhedonia and lifespan experiences. J Affect Disord 2023; 324:607-615. [PMID: 36587904 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The pleasantness of a gentle and slow, namely affective, touch experienced in interpersonal interactions motivates social closeness. In anorexia nervosa (AN), independent evidence suggests lower pleasantness of affective touch, as well as social withdrawal. We aim to probe both the experience of affective touch and its possible association with social anhedonia and lifespan experiences of affective bodily contacts in AN. METHODS The pleasantness of affective and non-affective touch was compared between fourteen women with AN and fourteen healthy women. Stimuli were traditionally delivered with a brush, with the experimenter's hand, as novelty, and with a stick, as control. The pleasantness of imagined and real touch was probed. Self-report questionnaires assessed social anhedonia and lifespan experiences of affective touch. RESULTS A preserved pleasantness of affective touch emerged in AN in both the imagery and real task, despite higher social anhedonia and less lifespan experience of affective touch than healthy women. LIMITATIONS Affective touch involves loved ones; thus, the experimenter's touch may not resemble real-life interactions. Future research may take advantage of imagery procedures to solve this issue. CONCLUSIONS Body-oriented therapy for AN recognizes touch as a therapeutic tool: ascertaining how touch is experienced is crucial to maximize rehabilitative outcomes. Furthermore, clarifying the possible interplay between interpersonal difficulties in AN and affective touch is especially relevant considering the possible role of the attachment style, which is intensively debated in AN, on affective touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Tagini
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; "Rita Levi Montalcini" Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
| | - Ilaria Bastoni
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Laboratorio di Psicologia, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy.
| | - Valentina Villa
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Laboratorio di Psicologia, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy.
| | - Leonardo Mendolicchio
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, U.O. dei Disturbi del Comportamento Alimentare, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy.
| | - Gianluca Castelnuovo
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Laboratorio di Psicologia, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; Psychology Department, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Mauro
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; "Rita Levi Montalcini" Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
| | - Federica Scarpina
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, U.O. di Neurologia e Neuroriabilitazione, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; "Rita Levi Montalcini" Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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15
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Crucianelli L, Chancel M, Ehrsson HH. Modeling affective touch pleasantness across skin types at the individual level reveals a reliable and stable basic function. J Neurophysiol 2022; 128:1435-1452. [PMID: 36260710 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00179.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Touch is perceived most pleasant when delivered at velocities known to optimally activate the C-tactile afferent system. At the group level, pleasantness ratings of touch delivered at velocities in the range between 0.3 and 30 cm/s follow an inverted-U shape curve, with maximum pleasantness between 1 and 10 cm/s. However, the prevalence, reliability, and stability of this function at the individual level and across skin types based on hair density remains unknown. Here, we tested a range of seven velocities (0.3, 1, 3, 6, 9, 18, and 27 cm/s) delivered with a soft brush, on both hairy (forearm and dorsal hand) and nonhairy skin (palm) in 123 participants. Our results suggest that the relationship between pleasantness and velocity of touch is significantly best described by a negative quadratic model at the individual level in the majority of participants both on hairy (67.1%) and nonhairy (62.6%) skin, a larger extent than previously reported. Higher interoceptive accuracy and self-reported depression were related to a better fit of the quadratic model and the steepness of the curve, respectively. The prevalence of the quadratic model at the individual level was stable across body sites (62.6%, experiment 1), across two experimental sessions (73%-78%, experiment 2), and regardless of the number of repetitions of each velocity (experiment 3). Thus, the individual perception of tactile pleasantness follows a characteristic velocity-dependent function across skin types and shows trait characteristics. Future studies can investigate further the possibility to use affective touch as a behavioral biomarker for mental health disorders.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Touch is perceived as most pleasant when delivered at slow, caress-like velocities, known to activate C-tactile afferents. At the group level, tactile pleasantness and velocity of touch show a reliable pattern of relationship on hairy skin. Here, we found that the perception of tactile pleasantness follows a consistent pattern also at the individual level, across skin types and testing sessions. However, individual differences in interoceptive abilities and self-reported depression do play a role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crucianelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Marie Chancel
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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16
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Malighetti C, Sansoni M, Gaudio S, Matamala-Gomez M, Di Lernia D, Serino S, Riva G. From Virtual Reality to Regenerative Virtual Therapy: Some Insights from a Systematic Review Exploring Inner Body Perception in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa. J Clin Med 2022; 11:jcm11237134. [PMID: 36498708 PMCID: PMC9737310 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11237134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite advances in our understanding of the behavioral and molecular factors that underlie the onset and maintenance of Eating Disorders (EDs), it is still necessary to optimize treatment strategies and establish their efficacy. In this context, over the past 25 years, Virtual Reality (VR) has provided creative treatments for a variety of ED symptoms, including body dissatisfaction, craving, and negative emotions. Recently, different researchers suggested that EDs may reflect a broader impairment in multisensory body integration, and a particular VR technique-VR body swapping-has been used to repair it, but with limited clinical results. In this paper, we use the results of a systematic review employing PRISMA guidelines that explore inner body perception in EDs (21 studies included), with the ultimate goal to analyze the features of multisensory impairment associated with this clinical condition and provide possible solutions. Deficits in interoception, proprioception, and vestibular signals were observed across Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa, suggesting that: (a) alteration of inner body perception might be a crucial feature of EDs, even if further research is needed and; (b) VR, to be effective with these patients, has to simulate/modify both the external and the internal body. Following this outcome, we introduce a new therapeutic approach-Regenerative Virtual Therapy-that integrates VR with different technologies and clinical strategies to regenerate a faulty bodily experience by stimulating the multisensory brain mechanisms and promoting self-regenerative processes within the brain itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clelia Malighetti
- Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20100 Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Sansoni
- Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20100 Milan, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-02-72-343-863
| | - Santino Gaudio
- Department of Neuroscience, Functional Pharmacology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Viale Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Marta Matamala-Gomez
- Department of Psychology, Mind and Behavior Technological Center, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Lernia
- Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20100 Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Serino
- Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20100 Milan, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Riva
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Magnasco 2, 20149 Milan, Italy
- Humane Technology Lab, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20100 Milan, Italy
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17
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Tajadura-Jiménez A, Crucianelli L, Zheng R, Cheng C, Ley-Flores J, Borda-Más M, Bianchi-Berthouze N, Fotopoulou A. Body weight distortions in an auditory-driven body illusion in subclinical and clinical eating disorders. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20031. [PMID: 36414765 PMCID: PMC9681758 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24452-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies suggest a stronger influence of visual signals on body image in individuals with eating disorders (EDs) than healthy controls; however, the influence of other exteroceptive sensory signals remains unclear. Here we used an illusion relying on auditory (exteroceptive) signals to manipulate body size/weight perceptions and investigated whether the mechanisms integrating sensory signals into body image are altered in subclinical and clinical EDs. Participants' footstep sounds were altered to seem produced by lighter or heavier bodies. Across two experiments, we tested healthy women assigned to three groups based on self-reported Symptomatology of EDs (SED), and women with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and used self-report, body-visualization, and behavioural (gait) measures. As with visual bodily illusions, we predicted stronger influence of auditory signals, leading to an enhanced body-weight illusion, in people with High-SED and AN. Unexpectedly, High-SED and AN participants displayed a gait typical of heavier bodies and a widest/heaviest visualized body in the 'light' footsteps condition. In contrast, Low-SED participants showed these patterns in the 'heavy' footsteps condition. Self-reports did not show group differences. The results of this pilot study suggest disturbances in the sensory integration mechanisms, rather than purely visually-driven body distortions, in subclinical/clinical EDs, opening opportunities for the development of novel diagnostic/therapeutic tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Tajadura-Jiménez
- grid.7840.b0000 0001 2168 9183DEI Interactive Systems Group, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de, Av. de La Universidad, 30, 28911 Madrid, Leganés, Spain ,grid.83440.3b0000000121901201UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), University College London, London, UK
| | - Laura Crucianelli
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.83440.3b0000000121901201Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rebecca Zheng
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), University College London, London, UK
| | - Chloe Cheng
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), University College London, London, UK
| | - Judith Ley-Flores
- grid.7840.b0000 0001 2168 9183DEI Interactive Systems Group, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de, Av. de La Universidad, 30, 28911 Madrid, Leganés, Spain
| | - Mercedes Borda-Más
- grid.9224.d0000 0001 2168 1229Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológico, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), University College London, London, UK
| | - Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
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18
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Frost-Karlsson M, Capusan AJ, Perini I, Olausson H, Zetterqvist M, Gustafsson PA, Boehme R. Neural processing of self-touch and other-touch in anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum condition. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103264. [PMID: 36451367 PMCID: PMC9668667 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The tactile sense plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a functional bodily self. The ability to differentiate between self- and nonself-generated touch contributes to the perception of the bodies' boundaries and more generally to self-other-distinction, both of which are thought be altered in anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum condition (AS). While it has been suggested that AN and AS are characterized by overlapping symptomatology, they might differ regarding body perception and self-other-distinction. METHODS Participants with a diagnosis of AN (n = 25), AS (n = 29), and a comparison group without diagnoses (n = 57) performed a self-other-touch task during functional brain imaging. In the experimental conditions, they stroked their own arm or were stroked on the arm by an experimenter. RESULTS As shown previously, the CG group showed lower activation or deactivation in response to self-touch compared to social touch from someone else. A main group effect was found in areas including somatosensory cortex, frontal and temporal gyri, insula, and subcortical regions. This was driven by increased activations in participants with AN, while participants in the AS group showed mostly comparable activations to the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS AN diagnosis was associated with an increased neural activity in response to both self-touch and social touch. Failure to attenuate self-touch might relate to altered predictions regarding the own body and reduced perception of bodily boundaries. Participants with an AS diagnosis were mostly comparable to the comparison group, potentially indicating unaltered tactile self-other-distinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Frost-Karlsson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Andrea Johansson Capusan
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Department of Psychiatry in Linköping and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Irene Perini
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Håkan Olausson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Linköping University Hospital, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Maria Zetterqvist
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Linköping and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Per A. Gustafsson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Linköping and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Rebecca Boehme
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization, Linköping University, 58185 Linköping, Sweden,Corresponding author at: Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, The Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden.
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19
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Vicarious ratings of self vs. other-directed social touch in women with and recovered from Anorexia Nervosa. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13429. [PMID: 35927454 PMCID: PMC9352775 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17523-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating pathology characterized by restricted eating, body image distortions and impaired socio-cognitive abilities. Altered responses to affective touch—a pleasant interoceptive stimulus hypothesised to involve activation of the C-Tactile (CT) system, may contribute to the aetiology and maintenance of this disorder. Here, we investigated whether third-party social touch vicarious ratings of different body sites at CT-optimal vs. non-CT optimal velocities differed in women with and recovered from AN (RAN) and healthy controls (HCs). Thirty-five HCs, 27 AN and 29 RAN provided pleasantness ratings for two different tasks designed to probe expectations of how touch is perceived by self (self-directed touch) vs. others (other-directed touch). Findings revealed that both clinical groups, compared to HCs, did not differ in their pleasantness ratings to touch for another but when evaluating touch for self, both clinical groups rated CT-optimal touch as less pleasant than HCs. These findings suggest that AN and RAN women demonstrate an atypical vicarious pleasantness response to affective touch involving self, but not others. Novel therapeutic approaches that help anorexics to better interpret or improve tolerance of affective tactile experiences involving the self may be an important addition to current standard treatments.
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20
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Löffler A, Kleindienst N, Neukel C, Bekrater-Bodmann R, Flor H. Pleasant touch perception in borderline personality disorder and its relationship with disturbed body representation. Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul 2022; 9:3. [PMID: 35101119 PMCID: PMC8805331 DOI: 10.1186/s40479-021-00176-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by altered perception of affective stimuli, including abnormal evaluation of nociceptive input. However, whether or not perceptual alterations are present for its positive counterpart, i.e. pleasant touch (PT), has not yet been examined. METHODS In the present study, we applied standardized PT stimuli to the hands of 25 patients with BPD and 25 healthy controls (HC) and compared their perception. We used the affect-modulated acoustic startle response as a physiological correlate of affective processing. We further explored the effect of PT stimulation on dissociative experiences in BPD. RESULTS Compared to HC, BPD perceived PT as less pleasant and less intense. The effect on perceived valence of touch was large even after controlling for the effect of reduced perceived intensity of touch (ƞ2 = .29). We further found qualitative alterations in touch perception in BPD, who rated the touch as significantly rougher and firmer compared to HC. There was a positive correlation between perceived valence of touch and changes in dissociative experiences in terms of body ownership of the stimulated body part from pre to post stimulation, suggesting that a more negative evaluation of touch is associated with an increase in body-related dissociative experiences, while a positive perception of touch might be related to a reduction of these dissociative experiences. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm BPD-associated disturbances in the processing of affective somatosensory stimuli and indicate that not only pain perception but also pleasant touch perception is diminished in BPD. We discuss the role of altered touch perception for BPD psychopathology and its potential role for new treatment approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Löffler
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Kleindienst
- Institute of Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Corinne Neukel
- Department of General Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Robin Bekrater-Bodmann
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.,Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Herta Flor
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
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21
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Della Longa L, Valori I, Farroni T. Interpersonal Affective Touch in a Virtual World: Feeling the Social Presence of Others to Overcome Loneliness. Front Psychol 2022; 12:795283. [PMID: 35087455 PMCID: PMC8787079 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.795283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are by nature social beings tuned to communicate and interact from the very beginning of their lives. The sense of touch represents the most direct and intimate channel of communication and a powerful means of connection between the self and the others. In our digital age, the development and diffusion of internet-based technologies and virtual environments offer new opportunities of communication overcoming physical distance. It however, happens that social interactions are often mediated, and the tactile aspects of communication are overlooked, thus diminishing the feeling of social presence, which may contribute to an increased sense of social disconnection and loneliness. The current manuscript aims to review the extant literature about the socio-affective dimension of touch and current advancements in interactive virtual environments in order to provide a new perspective on multisensory virtual communication. Specifically, we suggest that interpersonal affective touch might critically impact virtual social exchanges, promoting a sense of co-presence and social connection between individuals, possibly overcoming feelings of sensory loneliness. This topic of investigation will be of crucial relevance from a theoretical perspective aiming to understand how we integrate multisensory signals in processing and making sense of interpersonal exchanges, this is important in both typical and atypical populations. Moreover, it will pave the way to promising applications by exploring the possibility to use technical innovations to communicate more interactively in the case of people who suffer from social isolation and disconnection from others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Irene Valori
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
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22
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Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that altered responses to affective touch—a pleasant interoceptive stimulus associated with activation of the C-Tactile (CT) system—may contribute to the aetiology and maintenance of mental conditions characterised by body image disturbances (e.g., Anorexia Nervosa). Here, we investigated whether tactile pleasantness and intensity differ across body sites, and if individual differences in dysmorphic appearance concerns and body and emotional awareness might be associated with touch perceptions across body sites. To this end, we measured perceived pleasantness and intensity of gentle, dynamic stroking touches applied to the palm, forearm, face, abdomen and back of 30 female participants (mean age: 25.87±1.17yrs) using CT-optimal (3 cm/s) and non-CT optimal (0.3 and 30 cm/s) stroking touch. As expected, participants rated CT-targeted touch as more pleasant compared to the two non-CT optimal stroking touch at all body sites. Regardless of stroking velocity, touch applied to the abdomen elicited the lowest pleasantness ratings. Lower levels of emotional awareness, greater levels of interoceptive sensibility and of dysmorphic concerns were associated with lower preference for CT-optimal stroking touch applied to the forearm and the back. These findings begin to elucidate the link between CT sensitivity, dysmorphic appearance concerns and body and emotional awareness, which may have implications for future research looking to inform early interventions. Addressing impaired processing of affective interoceptive stimuli, such as CT-targeted touch, may be the key to current treatment approaches available for those populations at risk of disorders characterised by body image disturbance.
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23
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Haynos AF, Anderson LM, Askew AJ, Craske MG, Peterson CB. Adapting a neuroscience-informed intervention to alter reward mechanisms of anorexia nervosa: a novel direction for future research. J Eat Disord 2021; 9:63. [PMID: 34039415 PMCID: PMC8152047 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-021-00417-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Accumulating psychobiological data implicate reward disturbances in the persistence of anorexia nervosa (AN). Evidence suggests that individuals with AN demonstrate decision-making deficits similar to those with mood and anxiety disorders that cause them to under-respond to many conventionally rewarding experiences (e.g., eating, interacting socially). In contrast, unlike individuals with other psychiatric disorders, individuals with AN simultaneously over-respond to rewards associated with eating-disorder behaviors (e.g., restrictive eating, exercising). This pattern of reward processing likely perpetuates eating-disorder symptoms, as the rewards derived from eating-disorder behaviors provide temporary relief from the anhedonia associated with limited responsivity to other rewards. Positive Affect Treatment (PAT) is a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to target reward deficits that contribute to anhedonia in mood and anxiety disorders, including problems with reward anticipation, experiencing, and learning. PAT has been found to promote reward responsivity and clinical improvement in mood and anxiety disorders. This manuscript will: (1) present empirical evidence supporting the promise of PAT as an intervention for AN; (2) highlight nuances in the maintaining processes of AN that necessitate adaptations of PAT for this population; and (3) suggest future directions in research on PAT and other reward-based treatments that aim to enhance clinical outcomes for AN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann F Haynos
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
| | - Lisa M Anderson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
| | - Autumn J Askew
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
| | - Michelle G Craske
- Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Carol B Peterson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
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24
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The Science of Social and Affective Touch. Neuroscience 2021; 464:1-2. [PMID: 34016292 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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