title: Distorted body representations in anorexia nervosa.
abstract: In this paper, I discuss empirical evidence regarding anorexic patients' distorted body representations. I fit this evidence into a broader framework for understanding how the spatial content of the body is tracked and represented. This framework is motivated by O'Shaughnessy's (1980) long-term body image hypothesis. This hypothesis posits a representation that tracks changes in the spatial content of the body and supplies this content to other body representations. I argue that a similar kind of body representation might exist and, in the case of anorexia, be distorted. Finally, I suggest that this body representation might become distorted through influence by affect.
authors.affiliation: Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. Electronic address: Gadsby.st@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gadsby
mesh_terms: D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001828:Body Image; D006801:Humans; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Body representation; Body schema; Long-term body image; Tactile form