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Ip K, Kusyk N, Stephen ID, Brooks KR. Did you skip leg day? The neural mechanisms of muscle perception for body parts. Cortex 2024; 171:75-89. [PMID: 37980724 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.006] [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: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
While the neural mechanisms underpinning the perception of muscularity are poorly understood, recent progress has been made using the psychophysical technique of visual adaptation. Prolonged visual exposure to high (low) muscularity bodies causes subsequently viewed bodies to appear less (more) muscular, revealing a recalibration of the neural populations encoding muscularity. Here, we use visual adaptation to further elucidate the tuning properties of the neural processes underpinning muscle perception for the upper and lower halves of the body. Participants manipulated the apparent muscularity of upper and lower bodies until they appeared 'normal', prior to and following exposure to a series of top/bottom halves of bodies that were either high or low in muscularity. In Experiment 1, participants were adapted to isolated own-gender body halves from one of four conditions; increased (muscularity) upper (body half), increased lower, decreased upper, or decreased lower. Despite the presence of muscle aftereffects when the body halves the participants viewed and manipulated were congruent, there was only weak evidence of muscle aftereffect transfer between the upper and lower halves of the body. Aftereffects were significantly weaker when body halves were incongruent, implying minimal overlap in the neural mechanisms encoding muscularity for body half. Experiment 2 examined the generalisability of Experiment 1's findings in a more ecologically valid context using whole-body stimuli, producing a similar pattern of results as Experiment 1, but with no evidence of cross-adaptation. Taken together, the findings are most consistent with muscle-encoding neural populations that are body-half selective. As visual adaptation has been implicated in cases of body size and shape misperception, the present study furthers our current understanding of how these perceptual inaccuracies, particularly those involving muscularity, are developed, maintained, and may potentially be treated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keefe Ip
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Nicole Kusyk
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian D Stephen
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England, UK
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Perception and Action Research Centre (PARC), Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Lifespan Health & Wellbeing Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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2
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House T, Wong HK, Samuel NW, Stephen ID, Brooks KR, Bould H, Attwood AS, Penton-Voak IS. The relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies in Malaysian Chinese and White Australian women: a dot probe study. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230674. [PMID: 37736527 PMCID: PMC10509588 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230674] [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: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Studies suggest that an attentional bias to thin bodies is common among those with high levels of body dissatisfaction, which is a risk factor for, and symptom of, various eating disorders. However, these studies have predominantly been conducted in Western countries with body stimuli involving images of White people. In a preregistered study, we recruited 150 Malaysian Chinese women and 150 White Australian women for a study using standardized images of East Asian and White Australian bodies. To measure attentional bias to thin bodies, participants completed a dot probe task which presented images of women who self-identified their ethnicity as East Asian or as White Australian. Contrary to previous findings, we found no evidence for an association between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies. This lack of association was not affected by participant ethnicity (Malaysian Chinese versus White Australian) or ethnic congruency between participants and body stimuli (own-ethnicity versus other-ethnicity). However, the internal consistency of the dot probe task was poor. These results suggest that either the relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies is not robust, or the dot probe task may not be a reliable measure of attentional bias to body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. House
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
| | - H. K. Wong
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Malaysia
| | - N. W. Samuel
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Malaysia
| | - I. D. Stephen
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - K. R. Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
- Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Macquarie University, Australia
- Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - H. Bould
- Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucester, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
| | - A. S. Attwood
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
| | - I. S. Penton-Voak
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
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3
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Wang Y, Huang J. Untargeted metabolomic analysis of metabolites related to body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Funct Integr Genomics 2023; 23:70. [PMID: 36854840 PMCID: PMC9974688 DOI: 10.1007/s10142-023-00995-4] [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: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a disorder associated with depression and eating disorders. It often arises from minor defects in appearance or an individual imagining that he or she is defective. However, the mechanisms causing BDD remain unclear, and its pathogenesis and adjuvant treatment methods still need to be explored. Here, we employed a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics approach to identify key metabolic differences in BDD versus healthy patients. We obtained plasma samples from two independent cohorts (including eight BDD patients and eight healthy control patients). Raw data were analyzed using Compound Discoverer to determine peak alignment, retention time correction, and extraction of peak areas. Metabolite structure identification was also obtained using Compound Discoverer by of accurate mass matching (< 10 ppm) and secondary spectral matching queries of compound databases. Next, multidimensional statistical analyses were performed using the ropls R package. These analyses included: unsupervised principal component analysis, supervised partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis, and orthogonal partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis. We then identified the most promising metabolic signatures associated with BDD across all metabolomic datasets. Principal component analysis showed changes in small-molecule metabolites in patients, and we also found significant differences in metabolite abundance between the BDD and normal groups. Our findings suggest that the occurrence of BDD may be related to metabolites participating in the following KEGG pathways: ABC transporters, purine metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, pyrimidine, pyrimidine metabolism, biosynthesis of 12-, 14-, and 16-membered macrolides, microbial metabolism in diverse environments, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and caffeine and insect hormone biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yawen Wang
- Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No.138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jinlong Huang
- Department of Plastic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No.155, Hanzhong Road, Nanjing, 210000, Jiangsu, China.
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4
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Brooks KR, Bell J, Boothroyd LG, Stephen ID. Editorial: Experimental Approaches to Body Image, Representation and Perception. Front Psychol 2021; 12:809385. [PMID: 34950094 PMCID: PMC8688355 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.809385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin R Brooks
- Body Image and Ingestion Group, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | | | - Ian D Stephen
- Body Image and Ingestion Group, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Brooks KR, Stevenson RJ, Stephen ID. Over or Under? Mental Representations and the Paradox of Body Size Estimation. Front Psychol 2021; 12:706313. [PMID: 34413814 PMCID: PMC8369339 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.706313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin R Brooks
- Body Image & Ingestion Group (BIIG), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard J Stevenson
- Body Image & Ingestion Group (BIIG), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian D Stephen
- Body Image & Ingestion Group (BIIG), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Zopf R, Kosourikhina V, Brooks KR, Polito V, Stephen ID. Visual body-size adaptation and estimation of tactile distance. Br J Psychol 2021; 112:1012-1027. [PMID: 34120340 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Estimating the size of bodies is crucial for interactions with physical and social environments. Body-size perception is malleable and can be altered using visual adaptation paradigms. However, it is unclear whether such visual adaptation effects also transfer to other modalities and influence, for example, the perception of tactile distances. In this study, we employed a visual adaptation paradigm. Participants were exposed to images of expanded or contracted versions of self- or other-identity bodies. Before and after this adaptation, they were asked to manipulate the width of body stimuli to appear as 'normal' as possible. We replicated an effect of visual adaptation such that the body-size selected as most 'normal' was larger after exposure to expanded and thinner after exposure to contracted adaptation stimuli. In contrast, we did not find evidence that this adaptation effect transfers to distance estimates for paired tactile stimuli delivered to the abdomen. A Bayesian analysis showed that our data provide moderate evidence that there is no effect of visual body-size adaptation on the estimation of spatial parameters in a tactile task. This suggests that visual body-size adaptation effects do not transfer to somatosensory body-size representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regine Zopf
- Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Veronika Kosourikhina
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Vince Polito
- Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ian D Stephen
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Chan AWY, Noles DL, Utkov N, Akbilgic O, Smith W. Misalignment between perceptual boundaries and weight categories reflects a new normal for body size perception. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10442. [PMID: 34001935 PMCID: PMC8129102 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89533-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Combatting the current global epidemic of obesity requires that people have a realistic understanding of what a healthy body size looks like. This is a particular issue in different population sub-groups, where there may be increased susceptibility to obesity-related diseases. Prior research has been unable to systematically assess body size judgement due to a lack of attention to gender and race; our study aimed to identify the contribution of these factors. Using a data-driven multi-variate decision tree approach, we varied the gender and race of image stimuli used, and included the same diversity among participants. We adopted a condition-rich categorization visual task and presented participants with 120 unique body images. We show that gender and weight categories of the stimuli affect accuracy of body size perception. The decision pattern reveals biases for male bodies, in which participants showed an increasing number of errors from leaner to bigger bodies, particularly under-estimation errors. Participants consistently mis-categorized overweight male bodies as normal weight, while accurately categorizing normal weight. Overweight male bodies are now perceived as part of an expanded normal: the perceptual boundary of normal weight has become wider than the recognized BMI category. For female bodies, another intriguing pattern emerged, in which participants consistently mis-categorized underweight bodies as normal, whilst still accurately categorizing normal female bodies. Underweight female bodies are now in an expanded normal, in opposite direction to that of males. Furthermore, an impact of race type and gender of participants was also observed. Our results demonstrate that perceptual weight categorization is multi-dimensional, such that categorization decisions can be driven by ultiple factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie W Y Chan
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Brunel University London, Gaskell Building, Room 219, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK.
| | - Danielle L Noles
- School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Nathan Utkov
- Department of Bioinformatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Oguz Akbilgic
- Department of Health Informatics and Data Science, Parkinson School of Health Informatics and Public Health, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA
| | - Webb Smith
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
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Elia C, Karamanos A, Silva MJ, O’Connor M, Lu Y, Dregan A, Huang P, O’Keeffe M, Cruickshank JK, Enayat EZ, Cassidy A, Molaodi OR, Maynard M, Harding S. Weight misperception and psychological symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood: longitudinal study of an ethnically diverse UK cohort. BMC Public Health 2020; 20:712. [PMID: 32423390 PMCID: PMC7236343 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-08823-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To evaluate the association between weight misperception and psychological symptoms in the Determinants of young Adults Social well-being and Health (DASH) longitudinal study. METHODS A longitudinal sample of 3227 adolescents, in 49 secondary schools in London, aged 11-16 years participated in 2002/2003 and were followed up in 2005/2006. A sub-sample (N = 595) was followed up again at ages 21-23 years in 2012/2013. An index of weight misperception was derived from weight perception and measured weight. Psychological well- being was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 11-16 years and the General Health Questionnaire at 21-23 years. Associations with weight misperception was assessed using regression models, adjusted for socio-economic and lifestyle factors. RESULTS White British males and females were more likely than ethnic minority peers to report accurate perceptions of measured weight. At 11-13y, 46% females and 38% males did not have an accurate perception of their measured weight. The comparable figures at 14-16y were 42 and 40%. Compared with male adolescents, more females perceived themselves as overweight or were unsure of their weight but measured normal weight, and this was more pronounced among Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. At 14-16y, more males perceived themselves as underweight but measured normal weight, and this was more pronounced among Indians. Compared with those who had an accurate perception of their normal weight, a higher likelihood of probable clinically-relevant psychological symptoms was observed among those who measured normal weight but perceived themselves to be underweight (females Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.87 95% CI 1.03-3.40; males OR = 2.34 95% CI 1.47-3.71), overweight (females only OR = 2.06 95% CI 1.10-3.87), or unsure of their weight (males only OR = 1.61 95% CI 1.04-2.49). Among females, the association was driven by internalising rather than externalising symptoms. An accurate perception of overweight was associated with higher psychological symptoms in adolescence and early 20s. Ethnic specific effects were not evident. CONCLUSION Weight misperception may be an important determinant of psychological symptoms in young people, with an accurate perception of normal weight status being protective. Culturally targeted interventions should be considered to promote healthy perceptions of body image.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christelle Elia
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Alexis Karamanos
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201ESRC International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Health, University College London, London, WC1 6BT UK
| | - Maria João Silva
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Maeve O’Connor
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Denmark Hill Campus, London, SE5 9RJ UK
| | - Yao Lu
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Denmark Hill Campus, London, SE5 9RJ UK
| | - Alexandru Dregan
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Addison House, Guy’s Campus, London, SE11UL UK
| | - Peiyuan Huang
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Majella O’Keeffe
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - J. Kennedy Cruickshank
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Elli Z. Enayat
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Aidan Cassidy
- grid.13097.3c0000 0001 2322 6764Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH UK
| | - Oarabile R. Molaodi
- grid.8756.c0000 0001 2193 314XMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Maria Maynard
- grid.10346.300000 0001 0745 8880School of Clinical & Applied Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, CL 413 Calverley Building, City Campus, Leeds, LS1 3HE UK
| | - Seeromanie Harding
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, London, SE1 9NH, UK. .,Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, Addison House, Guy's Campus, London, SE11UL, UK.
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