Altered processing of conflicting body representations in women with restrictive anorexia nervosa

Embodiment of underweight and normal-weight avatars affects bodily self-representations in anorexia nervosa

“…Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder distinguished by three primary symptoms: i) severe reduction of food intake leading to an extremely low body weight; ii) intense fear of gaining weight; and iii) distorted perception of one's own body weight and shape [ 1 ]. Body image distortion (BID) affects all aspects of body representation, including the perceptual, affective, and cognitive dimensions, resulting in body overestimation, body dissatisfaction due to the discrepancies between perceived and ideal body [ [2] , [3] , [4] ], body preoccupations, and ultimately, low self-esteem (e.g. Refs.…”

“…Refs. [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] ]). BID is pivotal in the initiation, perpetuation, and recurrence of AN pathology [ 6 , 7 ].…”

“…However, a conflict arises when synchronous IMS is applied to a body whose appearance does not match the stored representation of one's own body (i.e., one's own offline bodily self-representation). To resolve this conflict, the brain updates the bodily self-representation to incorporate features of the synchronously stimulated observed body [ 4 , 17 ]. This process results in a change in bodily self-representation and the illusory sensation of owning, controlling, and being located in another body/a virtual body, known as the Embodiment illusion.…”