Not Seeing Clearly

Warped Perception

What are the contributing factors of an eating disorder?  Even the slimmest women have, on occasion, stood in front of the mirror and asked: “Does this dress make me look fat?”  No matter who you are at some point you have been your own worst critic.  Why do we do this to ourselves and what drives body dysmorphia? Scientists have discovered that the body image a person projects in their own brain is “massively distorted” and can be up to two thirds wider than it is in reality. The brain’s own “body model” is also around a third shorter than the body actually is, according to the study at University College London.  Researchers believe the findings could explain why slim women look in the mirror and see themselves as fat. They may also help explain the cause of some eating disorders.

Dr Michael Longo, a neuroscientist is a leader in brain research, said: “These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is.” He also says,“Some people look in the mirror and receive information which tells them they are not fat, but they still can’t use that to over-ride their distorted body model and make themselves believe it.”

The scientists had subjects place their hands under a board and relay where specific landmarks such as knuckles and fingertips were.  In doing so people were warped in their sense of size.  Scientists believe the distortion stems from the number of sensory signals being sent to the brain from different parts of the skin.  The brain’s warped “model” of the hand could be conveyed to the rest of the body,  therefore adding to the beginnings or bolstering feelings of negative body image.  For instance, if I am walking around feeling shorter and fatter than I really am these findings are saying that I am way off in my judgement.  Surprisingly, researchers found that subjects could pick their accurate hand size from other templates.  Therefore, researchers believe this shows that people have an accurate visual image of their own body but are still unable to use that information to over-ride the “brain model” which tells them they are larger.