A new study suggests that the brain often distorts body image, explaining the reason why certain individuals suffer from eating disorders like anorexia.
According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, distorted perception, which is associated with body image problems in some people, is the result of the confusion reported in the way brain stores information of different parts of the body.
These distortions affect position sense, the ability through which the brain determines where different parts of the body are even when the eyes are closed.
While the visual image of the body is generated consciously, the distortions are believed to be the result of subconscious signals, the study found.
"These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia nervosa, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is," said lead researcher Matthew Longo.
"They [anorexic patients] are able to judge other people's bodies quite accurately and would describe someone else the same size as themselves correctly, but still not be able to do that about their own weight and shape," Longo added.
According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, distorted perception, which is associated with body image problems in some people, is the result of the confusion reported in the way brain stores information of different parts of the body.
These distortions affect position sense, the ability through which the brain determines where different parts of the body are even when the eyes are closed.
While the visual image of the body is generated consciously, the distortions are believed to be the result of subconscious signals, the study found.
"These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia nervosa, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is," said lead researcher Matthew Longo.
"They [anorexic patients] are able to judge other people's bodies quite accurately and would describe someone else the same size as themselves correctly, but still not be able to do that about their own weight and shape," Longo added.
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