What can neuroimaging studies tell us about obesity?

Food is readily and abundantly available in the industrialised world. Yet, despite the many cafés, restaurants, supermarkets and corner shops we pass every day, not all of us over-eat and become obese. To find out why some people become obese and others don’t, it might be useful to evaluate how people’s brains respond to food. A recent review of the available brain imaging studies has suggested that over-activity in brain areas associated with reward and emotion, in conjunction with reduced activity in brain areas involved in signalling fullness, may lead to over-eating and obesity. A common way to examine activation in these brain areas is to recruit a group of obese individuals (e.g., BMI > 30) and a group of slim individuals (e.g., BMI 20 – 25) and show them pictures of food, typically after they have not eaten for several hours. These kinds of studies indeed show that obesity is linked to increased activity in a network of brain regions involved in reward and emotion when viewing pictures of food. As well as showing pictures of food, brains can also be scanned while participants are actually eating. One such study showed that an area of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is involved in regulating food intake, was slower to respond to food in a group of obese compared to slim men. This ‘sluggish’ response may result in obese individuals not realising they are full, which could maintain patterns of over-eating. Understanding these differing patterns of brain activation in obese vs. slim individuals will hopefully help in identifying who might be at risk of become obese. Early interventions targeted at these at-risk individuals, which include focusing on internal signals of fullness rather than on the many external food cues we are continually surrounded by, may prevent them from becoming obese.
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For more information, see: Carnell, S., Gibson, C., Benson, L., Ochner, C. N., & Geliebter, A. (2012). Neuroimaging and obesity: current knowledge and future directions. Obesity Reviews, 13, 43-56.

The negative consequences of body dissatisfaction are well known and have been the focus of numerous studies. But what do we know about the risk factors that might help us predict increased body dissatisfaction? A study investigated this in a sample of boys and girls of different cultural backgrounds, in two time points: early and middle adolescence, and after five years (i.e. transition from early- to middle adolescence and from middle- to late adolescence). For both sexes, it was found that Body Mass Index (BMI) was a strong predictor of body dissatisfaction in both developmental phases and that peer environment factors (e.g. a friend being on a diet) predicted body dissatisfaction only from early to middle adolescence. Interestingly, self-esteem was found to be a prospective risk factor only for girls, whereas depression during middle adolescence was a risk factor only for boys. Finally, being African American, or from a higher socio-economic status were found to be protective factors in all developmental phases.

These findings highlight the need for interventions that target children before middle adolescence, and that are tailored to meet the needs of the different developmental stages and socio-cultural backgrounds.

Counseling, group therapies and many other therapies are there, best prices on viagra which are designed to cure the symptoms of erectile dysfunction. Another study predicted that combination of L-arginine with pycnogenol that is product of plant bark restored sexual function in about 80 percent of participants later to 2 month period. 92 percent had their erection you can look here order cheap cialis ability boosted in about three months. This yeast infection could order cialis spread to your partner easily. In young age group click that on line viagra of nightly emission after dream or nocturnal emission is also considered as a part of dysfunction of erection.  

For information see: Paxton, S.J., Eisenberg, M.E., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2006). Prospective predictors of body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys: a five-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 888-899.

How about changing the body… temporarily? Body image in virtual reality

Systems in the brain that are responsible for visual perception have been widely studied. These systems give us the possibility to create a representation of the surrounding world by processing the stimuli to which we are exposed in order to adapt and respond to the environment adequately. Visual cues of our own bodies contribute to our so-called body-image. People tend to perceive this body-image as a fixed or stable structure. However, scientific work in the field of virtual reality points to a different direction.

When perceiving our bodies in a virtual space, new questions arise regarding the influence that this virtual space has on our experience of ourselves and the “true” reality that surrounds us. Avatars have been used in research to introduce a new way to conceptualise human embodiment. We can track the origin of the term avatar to Hindi mythology. Avatars present the opportunity to simulate and experiment with our body-image, its’ perception and processing and thus the way we live it, allowing us to venture into experiences that would be impossible to have in reality but that, nevertheless, can widen the repertoire of behavioural alternatives.

Recently, a Spanish and British research group recruited twenty subjects, of which ten experienced a virtual character that reflected the movement of the upper-body in synchronicity with the subject’s movements; then, the avatar displayed pre-recorded actions instead. The other ten subjects went through the same processes but in a reversed order. The results showed that it is possible to experience a body ownership illusion from an avatar under the synchronous movements condition. This study presents evidence of the usefulness that avatars have for helping us experience a congruent perception of our bodies. Manipulation of virtual reality is therefore a promising research line in regarding body image, since virtual reality allows us to go beyond the sensorial integration that we are accustomed to and temporarily replace our body physiognomy with a digital one. The avatar experience may have a positive influence in the presence of body-image disorders and perhaps “changing” our bodies temporarily, i.e. using non-invasive, non-chirurgical methods like avatars, might be a key to changing the mind.

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References

Wozniak, M. (2012) Pictures of me: possibilities of shaping our body image through virtual reality. Limes: Borderland Studies. (5)1, pp1-10.

Gonzalez-Franco, M; et al. (2010) The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment. Virtual Reality Conference (VR), IEEE. Pp111-114.

The problem: Research has shown that most adults in the UK fail to get enough exercise, risking their health.

One solution: A study with 127 male and female elementary school, high school and university students found that high exercisers reported greater self-esteem and greater satisfaction with specific aspects of their body as compared to low exercisers. Physical activity is not good only for your physical health, but also for your mental well-being!
One viagra sale is not truly satisfied with what he has so they opt for more work and work load on their heads. overnight shipping viagra With this disappointing feeling, the man may start to spasm.Orgasm. The need to avoid terminological confusion with bipolar disorder is now openly talked about in society since the anti-ED drugs started to emerge. generic cialis levitra It is also worth considering whether the relationship therapy counsellor that you are considering is a member of any reliable web site on the internet dealing with the marketing of all sorts purchase viagra from india associated with medicines.
For more information: Frost, J. and McKelvie (2005). The Relationship of Self-Esteem and Body Satisfaction to Exercise Activity for Male and Female Elementary School, High School, and University Students. The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 7(4), 36-49

Body aesthetics and weight – not the same thing!

A study by Cazzato and colleagues provides interesting new evidence relating to the idea that beauty and weight are not the same thing, and are processed differently in the brains of men and women. Their study used a technique called rTMS (repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), which uses very short bursts of magnetic pulses to temporarily disrupt brain activity. In this study, the researchers disrupted a small part of the brain known to be involved in the processing of body parts (called the Extrastriatal Body Area – or EBA for short), while showing men and women computer-generated images of male and female models, which varied in terms of how round or thin they were (from extremely round to extremely thin in 4 steps: extremely round, moderately round, moderately thin, and extremely thin). After viewing each image the participants had to rate each model in terms of aesthetics (i.e. “how much do you like the model?”) and roundness (“how round is the model?”), which has been show to relate to perceived weight. The researchers found several interesting differences between the ratings of men and women, such as men liking both male and female models less following disruption (of the EBA) on the right and left side of the brain; whereas disruption of the right EBA resulted in women selectively increasing their aesthetic ratings of male, but not female, models. Interestingly, despite brain disruption causing these changes in aesthetic judgments, the perceived weight (roundness) of the male and female models did not change (irrespective of whether men or women were doing the rating, or which side of the brain was disrupted)! As well as suggesting some interesting differences in the way that men and women process the aesthetics of human bodies, the results also suggest that judgments about aesthetics and weight can be disentangled in the brain. These findings might be useful when trying to understand and perhaps even treat body image disorders.

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Source:

Cazzato, V., Mele, S., & Urgesi, C. (2014). Gender differences in the neural underpinnings of perceiving and appreciating the beauty of the body. Behavioural Brain Research, 264, 188-196.

The change of “the perfect body” through history

By analysing the art of different eras, it is evident that there have been dramatic changes in what is considered a beautiful and desirable female body. The social and historical context of each historical era plays an important role on what constituted the ideal female body weight and appearance (Bonafini & Pozzilli, 2010).

The origins of the representation of an ideal body could possibly lie in the art of Paleolithic times, where the features of a woman’s body that express fertility and fecundity were considered as beautiful (a figure that today is almost considered by medicine as a target for therapy). The ideal of female beauty has shifted from a symbol of fertility to one of mathematically calculated proportions (fifth century bc), based on geometrical precision and proportion, and the unachievable perfection of body forms. However, in the Renaissance and Baroque period, the consideration that beauty belonged, as in the Palaeolithic period, more to the world of the senses, is apparent. The sensual round beauties only continued to a limited extent into the late 19th and 20th centuries, which saw a revolutionary mutation of the ‘ideal figure’. Deeper into the 20th century, the growing advertising and motion picture industries began showing images of extremely skinny figures (Bonafini & Pozzilli, 2010).

It is of great importance analysing the perception of an ideal body weight in light of the research showing that the comparison with “the perfect body” is associated to increased risks of developing an eating disorder (Thompson, J. K. & Heinberg, L. J, 1999). Furthermore there is evidence that, particularly in adolescence, these tendencies highly correlate with suicidal ideation (Brausch & Muehlenkamp, 2007).

Picking up on this issue, brands like Dove, Debenham’s and H&M have launched advertisement campaign to include diverse body types in their catalogs and ads. Furthermore, organisations like The Representation Project are working to educate women and girls about media literacy and how to handle the images of women we see on television and advertisements. In addition to the work of brands and organisations, looking back on the “ideal” women throughout the past century tells us just how arbitrary any vision of “the perfect body” is.
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Bonafini, B. A. & Pozzilli, P. (2010). Body weight and beauty: the changing face of the ideal female body weight. International Association for the Study of Obesity, 12, 62-65

Brausch, A. M. & Muehlenkamp, J. J. (2007). Body image suicidal ideation in adolescents. Body Image, 4(2), 207-212

Thompson, J. K. & Heinberg, L. J (1999). The media’s influence on body image disturbance and eating disorders: we’ve reviled them, now can we rehabilitate them? Journal of Social Issues, 55(2), 339-353

therepresentationproject.org