Abstract

Body representation distortion (BRD) is a core criterion of Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and is usually assessed subjectively, focusing on body shape. We aimed to develop a new assessment to evaluate body representation independently from socially-mediated body image, on a body part with low emotional salience (hands). In a monocentric open label pilot study, we measured hand representations based on explicit (verbal) and implicit (tactile) instructions. Participants, with eyes closed, had to point targeted locations (knuckles and nails of each finger) based on verbal instructions and tactile stimulations to evaluate body representations respectively. Ratios between hand width and finger length were compared between AN (n = 31) and controls (n = 31) and correlated with current body mass index, AN subtype and disease duration. To control that hand distortion was specific to body representation, we also assessed object representation. Hand representation’s width/length ratio was significantly increased in patients with AN, whereas no difference was found in object representation. We found no correlation between hand wideness and clinical traits related to eating disorders. Our results propose that BRD is not limited to body parts with high emotional salience, strengthening the hypothesis that anorexia nervosa is associated with profound unspecific BRD.

Details

Title
Spatial hand representation in anorexia nervosa: a controlled pilot study
Author
Verbe, J 1 ; Lindberg, P G 2 ; Gorwood, P 3 ; Dupin, L 2 ; Duriez, P 3 

 Clinique Psychiatrique Universitaire, CHRU Tours, Tours, France (GRID:grid.411167.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 1765 1600) 
 Université de Paris, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris, Unité Mixte de Recherche en Santé (UMRS) 1266 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Paris, France (GRID:grid.508487.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 7885 7602) 
 Université de Paris, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris, Unité Mixte de Recherche en Santé (UMRS) 1266 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Paris, France (GRID:grid.508487.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 7885 7602); Sainte-Anne Hospital, GHU Paris Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Clinique des Maladies Mentales et de l’Encéphale (CMME), Paris, France (GRID:grid.414435.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 2200 9055) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2579207291
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.