Effects of body image therapy on the activation of the extrastriate body area in anorexia nervosa: An fMRI study

Received 2 July 2009; received in revised form 20 May 2010; accepted 23 May 2010.

Abstract

To test effects of body image therapy in anorexia nervosa, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess neuronal responses to viewing photographs of one's own body before and after treatment. Activation decreases emerged in a distributed network and increases were observed in the extrastriate body area, possibly reflecting more intense body image processing.

Keywords: Eating disorders, Cognitive behavior therapy, Functional neuroimaging

a Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

b Department of Radiology, University of Witten-Herdecke, Witten, Germany

c Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

d Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuropsychology, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

Corresponding author. Ruhr-University Bochum, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. Tel.: +49 234 3223106; fax: +49 234 3214304.

PII: S0925-4927(10)00190-3

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.05.011

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