The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
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Overview
How does the brain process body image?
Is there a difference between the sexes?
Prevalence of eating disorders
Brain functioning in eating disorders
Is there a difference between the sexes?
Clinical experience with body image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
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Different ideal shapes for boys & girls
Men more interested in shape than weight
Women more likely to self describe as fat, diet more
Women more likely to self assess as overweight, men
as underweight compared to objective standards
Men see underweight as being bad, women as good.
In one study, 4% women wanted to become bigger
compared to 47% of women wanting to slim down.
Among 18 yr old boys, equal numbers want to be
larger and smaller
Dieting normal in girls but not in boys
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• Univ. of London study- 111 boys and 124 girls
– ages 16-18, in school
– mean body wgt of girls 57 kgs (125 lbs)
– mean body wgt of boys 69 kgs (152 lbs)
• EAT, self esteem, reason for exercise, contour
drawing surveys completed.
• Furnham et al, J Psychol 2002
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• 80% of girls AND boys dissatisfied with their
weight.
• However, nearly as many boys wished to be
heavier (36%) as thinner (43%)
• Only 9 girls wished to be heavier; 75% chose
an ideal figure thinner than theirs
• Girls/women exercise to lose weight,
boys/men not necessarily.
The Neuroscience of Body Image
Downing et al, Science 2001
The Neuroscience of Body Image
Downing et al, Science 2001
The Neuroscience of Body Image
Devue et al, Brain Research, 2007
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• Face recognition vs body recognition
• Right frontal cortex, insula and cingulate gyrus
main regions in self recognition.
• Posterior sensory areas versus more anterior
(evolved, neocortex) association areas.
The Neuroscience of Body Image
Anorexic patients fMRI ; Neuropsychol 2008
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• Self versus other images
• 10 AN women, 10 normal controls.
• Difference: no activation of the insula and the
attentional areas of brain when viewing self
• Prior study showed activation of amygdala in AN
patients
• Role of the amygdala and insular cortex
• AN suppress emotional & perceptual processing
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• 13 men and 13 women
• left amygdala activated only in women
• left prefrontal cortex and hippocampus activated only in men
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Shirao et al, 2005
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The wandering vagus nerve
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• 1998 metanalysis of 222 studies over 50 years
Feingold & Mazella, 1998
• Pre-1970, 70s, 80s, 90s
• Ages 12-14, 14-16, 16-18, 18-23, 23-35, >35
• N= 37,627
• Results:
– body satisfaction: men vs women
– Men vs women, self assesment on looks
• “The analysis shows dramatic increases in the numbers of women
among individuals who have poor body image. Moreover, these
trends were found across multiple conceptualizations of body
image, including self-judgments of physical attractiveness.”
The Neuroscience of Body Image
• 54 cases of eating disorders associated with
brain lesions
• Simple changes occur w hypothalamic lesions
• AN and BN type changes occur with right
frontal and temporal damage
• Uher & Treasure, J Neurol Neurosurg 2005
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
The Neuroscience of Body Image
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The plastic brain
Shaped by experiences and memories
The phantom limb syndrome
Change the brain, control the eating disorder
Change the brain, change society