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Diaz-Fong JP, Feusner JD. Visual Perceptual Processing Abnormalities in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38691313 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_472] [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: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Phenomenological observations of individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), coupled with evidence from neuropsychological, psychophysical, and neuroimaging studies, support a model of aberrant visual perception characterized by deficient global/holistic, enhanced detail/local processing, and selective visual-attentional biases. These features may contribute to the core symptomatology of distorted perception of their appearance, in addition to misinterpretation of others' facial expressions and poor insight regarding their misperceived appearance defects. Insights from visual processing studies can contribute to the development of novel interventions, such as perceptual retraining and non-invasive neuromodulation. However, much remains to be understood about visual perception in BDD. Future research should leverage brain imaging modalities with high temporal resolutions and employ study designs that induce conflicts in multisensory integration, thereby advancing our mechanistic understanding of distorted visual perception observed in BDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel P Diaz-Fong
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jamie D Feusner
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Feusner JD, Kurth F, Luders E, Ly R, Wong WW. Cytoarchitectonically Defined Volumes of Early Extrastriate Visual Cortex in Unmedicated Adults With Body Dysmorphic Disorder. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2023; 8:909-917. [PMID: 34688924 PMCID: PMC9037993 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 04/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) misperceive that they have prominent defects in their appearance, resulting in preoccupations, time-consuming rituals, and distress. Previous neuroimaging studies have found abnormal activation patterns in the extrastriate visual cortex, which may underlie experiences of distorted perception of appearance. Correspondingly, we investigated gray matter volumes in individuals with BDD in the early extrastriate visual cortex using cytoarchitectonically defined maps that were previously derived from postmortem brains. METHODS We analyzed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data from 133 unmedicated male and female participants (BDD: n = 65; healthy control subjects: n = 68). We used cytoarchitectonically defined probability maps for the early extrastriate cortex, consisting of areas corresponding to V2, V3d, V3v/VP, V3a, and V4v. Gray matter volumes were compared between groups, supplemented by testing associations with clinical symptoms. RESULTS The BDD group exhibited significantly larger gray matter volumes in the left and right early extrastriate cortex. Region-specific follow-up analyses revealed multiple subregions showing larger volumes in BDD, significant in the left V4v. There were no significant associations after corrections for multiple comparisons between gray matter volumes in early extrastriate cortex and BDD symptoms, comorbid symptoms, or duration of illness. CONCLUSIONS Greater volumes of the early extrastriate visual cortex were evident in those with BDD, which aligns with outcomes of prior studies revealing BDD-specific functional abnormalities in these regions. Enlarged volumes of the extrastriate cortex in BDD might manifest during neurodevelopment, which could predispose individuals to aberrant visual perception and contribute to the core phenotype of distortion of perception for appearance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie D Feusner
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
| | - Florian Kurth
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Eileen Luders
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ronald Ly
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Wan-Wa Wong
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
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Wong WW, Rangaprakash D, Diaz-Fong JP, Rotstein NM, Hellemann GS, Feusner JD. Neural and behavioral effects of modification of visual attention in body dysmorphic disorder. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:325. [PMID: 35948537 PMCID: PMC9365821 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-02099-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), perceptual appearance distortions may be related to selective attention biases and aberrant visual scanning, contributing to imbalances in global vs. detailed visual processing. Treatments for the core symptom of perceptual distortions are underexplored in BDD; yet understanding their mechanistic effects on brain function is critical for rational treatment development. This study tested a behavioral strategy of visual-attention modification on visual system brain connectivity and eye behaviors. We acquired fMRI data in 37 unmedicated adults with BDD and 30 healthy controls. Participants viewed their faces naturalistically (naturalistic viewing), and holding their gaze on the image center (modulated viewing), monitored with an eye-tracking camera. We analyzed dynamic effective connectivity and visual fixation duration. Modulated viewing resulted in longer mean visual fixation duration compared to during naturalistic viewing, across groups. Further, modulated viewing resulted in stronger connectivity from occipital to parietal dorsal visual stream regions, also evident during the subsequent naturalistic viewing, compared with the initial naturalistic viewing, in BDD. Longer fixation duration was associated with a trend for stronger connectivity during modulated viewing. Those with more severe BDD symptoms had weaker dorsal visual stream connectivity during naturalistic viewing, and those with more negative appearance evaluations had weaker connectivity during modulated viewing. In sum, holding a constant gaze on a non-concerning area of one's face may confer increased communication in the occipital/parietal dorsal visual stream, facilitating global/holistic visual processing. This effect shows persistence during subsequent naturalistic viewing. Results have implications for perceptual retraining treatment designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-Wa Wong
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - D Rangaprakash
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Joel P Diaz-Fong
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Natalie M Rotstein
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Gerhard S Hellemann
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Jamie D Feusner
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neurosciences & Clinical Translation, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Wong WW, Rangaprakash D, Moody TD, Feusner JD. Dynamic Effective Connectivity Patterns During Rapid Face Stimuli Presentation in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:890424. [PMID: 35685771 PMCID: PMC9172595 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.890424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), perceptual appearance distortions may be related to imbalances in global vs. local visual processing. Understanding the mechanistic brain effects of potential interventions is crucial for rational treatment development. The dorsal visual stream (DVS) is tuned to rapid image presentation, facilitating global/holistic processing, whereas the ventral visual stream (VVS), responsible for local/detailed processing, reduces activation magnitude with shorter stimulus duration. This study tested a strategy of rapid, short-duration face presentation on visual system connectivity. Thirty-eight unmedicated adults with BDD and 29 healthy controls viewed photographs of their faces for short (125 ms, 250 ms, 500 ms) and long (3000 ms) durations during fMRI scan. Dynamic effective connectivity in DVS and VVS was analyzed. BDD individuals exhibited weaker connectivity from occipital to parietal DVS areas than controls for all stimuli durations. Short compared with long viewing durations (125 ms vs. 3,000 ms and 500 ms vs. 3,000 ms) resulted in significantly weaker VVS connectivity from calcarine cortex to inferior occipital gyri in controls; however, there was only a trend for similar results in BDD. The DVS to VVS ratio, representing a balance between global and local processing, incrementally increased with shorter viewing durations in BDD, although it was not statistically significant. In sum, visual systems in those with BDD are not as responsive as in controls to rapid face presentation. Whether rapid face presentation could reduce connectivity in visual systems responsible for local/detailed processing in BDD may necessitate different parameters or strategies. These results provide mechanistic insights for perceptual retraining treatment designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-wa Wong
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - D. Rangaprakash
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Teena D. Moody
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jamie D. Feusner
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neurosciences & Clinical Translation, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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A multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis of the body inversion effect: Evaluating controversies over headless and sexualized bodies. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:1558-1593. [PMID: 35230674 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02067-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Face and body perception rely on specialized processing mechanisms to interpret social information efficiently. The body inversion effect (BIE), refers to an inversion effect for bodies, such that recognition of bodies is impaired by inversion. The BIE, like the face inversion effect (FIE), is particularly important because a disproportionate BIE relative to inversion effects for objects could be interpreted in much the same way as the disproportionate FIE has often been characterized; that is, as evidence of specialized, configural processing. However, research supporting the BIE is marked by methodological heterogeneity and mixed findings. Our multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis addresses inconsistencies in the literature by pooling data from numerous studies to estimate the magnitude of the BIE across various methodological and stimulus properties. We included 180 effect sizes from 41 empirical articles representing data from 2,274 participants. Overall, we found that the BIE was moderate-large in magnitude (Hedges' g = 0.75). Importantly, the inversion effect was larger for bodies than objects (b = 0.42); however, the inversion effect for faces was larger than for bodies (b = 0.34). We tested the role of discrimination dimension, stimulus type, face/head inclusion, stimulus sexualization, and sexualized stimulus sex as moderators of the BIE. We found that the BIE was moderated by discrimination dimension, stimulus type, stimulus sexualization, and sexualized stimulus sex. By synthesizing the existing literature, we provide a better theoretical understanding of how underlying visual processing mechanisms may differ for different types of social information (i.e., bodies vs. faces).
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Effects of visual attention modulation on dynamic functional connectivity during own-face viewing in body dysmorphic disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:2030-2038. [PMID: 34050267 PMCID: PMC8429684 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01039-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2020] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by preoccupations with misperceptions of one's physical appearance. Previous neuroimaging studies in BDD have yet to examine dynamic functional connectivity (FC) patterns between brain areas, necessary to capture changes in activity in response to stimuli and task conditions. We used Leading Eigenvector Dynamics Analysis to examine whole-brain dynamic FC from fMRI data during an own-face viewing task in 29 unmedicated adults with BDD with facial concerns and 30 healthy controls. The task involved two parts: (1) unconstrained, naturalistic viewing and (2) holding visual attention in the center of the image, to reduce scanning and fixation on perceived facial flaws. An FC state consisting of bilateral medial orbitofrontal cortex regions occurred significantly less often during the visual attention condition and afterward during the unconstrained face viewing in BDD participants, compared to the first unconstrained face viewing, a pattern that differed from controls. Moreover, the probability of this state during the second unconstrained face viewing was associated with severity of obsessions and compulsions and degree of poor insight in BDD, suggesting its clinical significance. These findings have implications for understanding the pathophysiology of own-face viewing in BDD and how it is affected by modification of viewing patterns, which may have implications for novel perceptual retraining treatment designs.
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Brown TA, Shott ME, Frank GKW. Body size overestimation in anorexia nervosa: Contributions of cognitive, affective, tactile and visual information. Psychiatry Res 2021; 297:113705. [PMID: 33472094 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/31/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Body image disturbance (BID) in anorexia nervosa (AN) is poorly understood and the individual contribution of perceptual, cognitive, and affective components remains unclear. This study compared females with AN and matched healthy controls (HC) on a perceptual size estimation task. Participants (AN n=19 M[SD] age=16.97[2.24], HC n=19, age=15.77[2.17]) were blindfolded and estimated the size of neutral objects, safe foods, unsafe foods, and parts of their bodies (hips, waist, knees, ankle) over three blocks using: 1) no sensory information (baseline), 2) tactile information, and 3) added visual information. There were no significant differences between AN and HC on neutral and safe or unsafe food objects. Participants with AN were significantly more likely to overestimate their body size across blocks compared to HC. Both groups made fewer errors on unsafe foods and body parts when using tactile or visual information compared to baseline. Exploratory analyses revealed significant correlations between body size overestimation and drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction in the AN group, with body dissatisfaction being the most robust. Results suggest that both deficits in tactile and visual perception and affective factors play a role in BID for young women with AN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany A Brown
- University of California, UCSD Eating Disorder Center for Treatment and Research, 4510 Executive Dr., Suite 315, San Diego, CA 92121, United States
| | - Megan E Shott
- University of California, UCSD Eating Disorder Center for Treatment and Research, 4510 Executive Dr., Suite 315, San Diego, CA 92121, United States
| | - Guido K W Frank
- University of California, UCSD Eating Disorder Center for Treatment and Research, 4510 Executive Dr., Suite 315, San Diego, CA 92121, United States.
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