title: I'm not as slim as that girl: neural bases of body shape self-comparison to media images.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of images of slim female fashion models on healthy young women. Brain responses to images of slim-idealized bodies (active condition) and interior designs (control condition) were measured using functional neuroimaging in 18 healthy young women. Instructions encouraged the participants to compare their own body shape/own home with the one in the images. Participants rated the level of anxiety that they experienced while exposed to the images. In the active relative to the control condition, participants activated body shape processing networks, including the lateral fusiform gyrus on both sides, the right inferior parietal lobule, the right lateral prefrontal cortex and the left anterior cingulate. The level of reported anxiety during the exposure to slim bodies correlated with established measures of shape and weight concern and with brain activations in bilateral basal ganglia, left amygdala, bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate, and left inferior lateral prefrontal cortex. Brain networks associated with anxiety induced by self-comparison to slim images may be involved in the genesis of body dissatisfaction and hence with vulnerability to eating disorders.
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK. hans-christoph_friederich@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Friederich
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uher
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giampietro
authors.forename: Mick
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brammer
authors.forename: Steve C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treasure
authors.forename: Iain C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003146:Communications Media; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging