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Cited by 58Eating Disorders and BehaviorsVisual perception and processing mechanismsBody Image and Dysmorphia Studies

Independent aftereffects of fat and muscle: implications for neural encoding, body space representation, and body image disturbance

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Sturman, Daniel, Stephen, Ian D., Mond, Jonathan, Stevenson, Richard J, Brooks, Kevin R.·2017·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/srep40392PMC PMC5223140
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Abstract

Although research addressing body size misperception has focused on socio-cognitive processes, such as internalization of the "ideal" images of bodies in the media, the perceptual basis of this phenomenon remains largely unknown. Further, most studies focus on body size per se even though this depends on both fat and muscle mass - variables that have very different relationships with health. We tested visual adaptation as a mechanism for inducing body fat and muscle mass misperception, and assessed whether these two dimensions of body space are processed independently. Observers manipulated the apparent fat and muscle mass of bodies to make them appear "normal" before and after inspecting images from one of four adaptation conditions (increased fat/decreased fat/increased muscle/decreased muscle). Exposure resulted in a shift in the point of subjective normality in the direction of the adapting images along the relevant (fat or muscle) axis, suggesting that the neural mechanisms involved in body fat and muscle perception are independent. This supports the viability of adaptation as a model of real-world body size misperception, and extends its applicability to clinical manifestations of body image disturbance that entail not only preoccupation with thinness (e.g., anorexia nervosa) but also with muscularity (e.g., muscle dysmorphia).

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  • Differences in BMI across individuals are driven by a combination of both body fat and skeletal muscle mass, i.e., body composition.

    “The problem here is that differences in BMI across individuals are driven by a combination of both body fat and skeletal muscle mass, i.e., body composition (Sturman et al., 2017).”

    From The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness (2022) · cites this paper as Sturman et al., 2017

    The paper’s Abstract says fat and muscle together constitute body composition and that both are positively related to body size. It does not specifically establish how differences in BMI across individuals are attributable to each component; its statement is about body size more generally. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Winkler C. & Rhodes G. Perceptual adaptation affects attractiveness of female bodies. British Journal of Psychology 96, 141– 154, doi: 10.1348/000712605X36343 (2005). 15969827 · DOI

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Authors
Sturman, D., Stephen, I. D., Mond, J., Stevenson, R. J., & Brooks, K. R.
Affiliations
  • Macquarie University (AU)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (AU)
  • University of Tasmania (AU)
Corresponding author
Brooks, Kevin R.
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-01-10
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
40392-40392
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/srep40392
PMC
PMC5223140
OpenAlex
W2570451334
Cited by
58
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5
FWCI
12.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UTAS Research Repository (acceptedVersion)
  • eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Macquarie University (MQRDG 9201401548, 9201401548)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
Keywords
visual adaptation, body image disturbance, muscle dysmorphia, anorexia nervosa, body image
MeSH terms
Adult, Anorexia Nervosa, Body Image, Female, Humans, Male, Mass Media, Muscles, Thinness, Human Body, Body Size

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