Table 2 Summary of physiological responses to body stimuli
From: Physiological, emotional and neural responses to visual stimuli in eating disorders: a review
| Participants | Stimuli | Physiological outcome | Result of body shape stimuli | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oretga- Roldan et al. 2014 [36] |
• 30 females with BN • 30 HC |
• Image of own body • Startle noise |
• Startle reflex • ECG • SCR |
• Increased skin conductance response in BN > HC • Decreased startle reflex in those with BN > HC |
| Friederich et al. 2006 [27] |
• 15 AN female • 15 BN female • 30 HC |
• Food images • Body images • Positive images • Neutral images • Aversive images | • Startle blink response | • No startle reflex potentiation of body > neutral in either BN or AN |
| Herbert et al. 2013 [37] | • 35 healthy females screened for ED risk |
• Body words • Neutral words |
• Startle blink response • HR |
• No difference in startle modulation between body and neutral words • HR differed significantly between body and neutral words • Correlation between women with high body dissatisfaction and increased startle response to body > neutral words |
| Spresser et al. 2012 [38] | • 53 females who took the eating disorder inventory | • Picture of participants own face altered to different levels of weight gain | • Startle blink response | • Startle responses to self-image predicted more variance in drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction scores |
| Vocks et al. 2007 [39] |
• 28 female HC • 7 females with BN • 5 females with AN • 9 females with EDNOS | • Viewing own body image in a mirror |
• HR • SCR | • Increase in SCR when viewing own body image in both HC and ED group |
| Overduin et al. 1997 [33] |
• 11 female restrained eaters • 13 female controls |
• Neutral images • Food images • Image of own Body |
• SCR • HR • Startle reflex • Facial EMG |
• No difference in EMG or startle reflex for body shape image • Increased SCR recovery time to body shape seen in both restrained and unrestrained eaters • Increased heart rate acceleration to body image in both restrained and unrestrained eaters |
| Forghieri et al. 2016 [40] |
• 18 female HC • 10 females with AN • 3 females with BN • 4 females with EDNOS |
• Neutral image • Looking at a mirror • Image of participants thin ideal body image | • Static posturography |
• Increased body sway in ED group > HC when viewing own body image and ideal body image • Increased body sway for own body image and ideal > neutral image |
