Visual processing in anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder: similarities, differences, and future research...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are psychiatric conditions characterized by distorted perceptions of physical appearance.
• Visual processing abnormalities may represent a common underlying phenotype in both AN and BDD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize current literature on visual processing in AN and BDD.
• To explore visual perception across different processing stages, from basic neural input to complex percepts.

Main Methods:

• Survey of peer-reviewed studies on AN and BDD.
• Analysis of research on ophthalmologic abnormalities, neural processing, neuropsychological tests, and visual representations.
• Examination of studies focusing on processing of faces, bodies, and other objects.

Main Results:

• Both AN and BDD groups show over-attention to detail and reduced processing of global features.
• Individuals with AN and BDD tend to focus on symptom-specific details in their own images.
• Visuospatial abnormalities are present when viewing images of others and non-appearance stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Visual processing abnormalities, particularly detail-focused attention and reduced global processing, are suggested in both AN and BDD.
• Cognitive strategies appear to partially mediate these visual abnormalities.
• Further research is needed to directly compare AN and BDD and disentangle emotional responses from visual processing.