title: The perception of affective touch in anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by restricted eating, fears of gaining weight, and body image distortions. The etiology remains unknown; however impairments in social cognition and reward circuits contribute to the onset and maintenance of the disorder. One possibility is that AN is associated with reduced perceived pleasantness during social interactions. We therefore examined the perception of interpersonal, 'affective touch' and its social modulation in AN. We measured the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic stroking touches applied to the forearm of 25 AN patients and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (3cm/s) and non-optimal (18cm/s) velocities, while simultaneously displaying images of faces showing rejecting, neutral and accepting expressions. CT-optimal touch, but not CT non-optimal touch, elicited significantly lower pleasantness ratings in AN patients compared with healthy controls. Pleasantness ratings were modulated by facial expressions in both groups in a similar fashion; namely, presenting socially accepting faces increased the perception of touch pleasantness more than neutral and rejecting faces. Our findings suggest that individuals with AN have a disordered, CT-based affective touch system. This impairment may be linked to their weakened interoceptive perception and distorted body representation.
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crucianelli
authors.affiliation: Section of Eating Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cardi
authors.affiliation: Section of Eating Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treasure
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK. Electronic address: a.fotopoulou@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Aikaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fotopoulou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012201:Reward; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Body representation; CT system; Facial expressions; Interoception; Interpersonal touch; Social modulation