Face and Object Perception in Body Dysmorphic Disorder versus Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Mooney Faces Task

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) involves preoccupation with perceived appearance flaws and repetitive behaviors.
• BDD shares some clinical similarities with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in perceptual domains.
• Understanding perceptual differences is key to differentiating BDD from OCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare perceptual anomalies in BDD versus OCD and healthy controls (HC).
• To investigate differences in face and object perception using a modified Mooney task.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a modified Mooney task with 21 BDD, 19 OCD, and 21 HC participants.
• Presented Mooney faces and objects in upright, inverted, and scrambled configurations under brief viewing conditions.
• Employed a forced-choice paradigm to assess identification accuracy.

Main Results:

• The BDD group demonstrated significantly reduced face and object inversion effects.
• BDD participants were more accurate in identifying inverted Mooney faces and objects compared to OCD and HC groups.
• This suggests altered visual processing strategies in BDD.

Conclusions:

• BDD is associated with an overreliance on processing independent components.
• This contrasts with holistic (configural) processing, potentially explaining perceptual anomalies in BDD.
• Findings highlight distinct perceptual mechanisms in BDD compared to OCD.