It is known that experiencing body as one’s own depend on the integration of different bodily signals (i.e., proprioceptive, tactile, visual, vestibular inputs). In the current study, a group of female participants suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (N=23) viewed within a first-person perspective a virtual body with a skinny belly substituting their own physical body in two experimental conditions (i.e., synchronous vs. asynchronous visual-tactile stimulation). This allowed us to investigate whether illusionary ownership over a virtual body would result in differences in body representation (as measured by asking participants to estimate their body size) before and after a multidisciplinary treatment provided in a center of excellence. Before treatment, there was a significant distortion in body representation, especially as concerns the estimation of the circumference of the abdomen and the hips. After the treatment, the most interesting result is a decrease in the body-size distortions in abdomen. This innovative approach, if further investigated, may be useful for anorectic patients for specifically improving body representation disturbances.

Serino, S., Chirico, A., Pedroli, E., Polli, N., Cacciatore, C., Riva, G., Two-phases innovative treatment for anorexia nervosa: The potential of virtual reality body-swap, <<ANNUAL REVIEW OF CYBERTHERAPY AND TELEMEDICINE>>, 2017; 15 (n/a): 111-115 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/119585]

Two-phases innovative treatment for anorexia nervosa: The potential of virtual reality body-swap

Serino, Silvia;Chirico, Alice;Pedroli, Elisa;Riva, Giuseppe
2017

Abstract

It is known that experiencing body as one’s own depend on the integration of different bodily signals (i.e., proprioceptive, tactile, visual, vestibular inputs). In the current study, a group of female participants suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (N=23) viewed within a first-person perspective a virtual body with a skinny belly substituting their own physical body in two experimental conditions (i.e., synchronous vs. asynchronous visual-tactile stimulation). This allowed us to investigate whether illusionary ownership over a virtual body would result in differences in body representation (as measured by asking participants to estimate their body size) before and after a multidisciplinary treatment provided in a center of excellence. Before treatment, there was a significant distortion in body representation, especially as concerns the estimation of the circumference of the abdomen and the hips. After the treatment, the most interesting result is a decrease in the body-size distortions in abdomen. This innovative approach, if further investigated, may be useful for anorectic patients for specifically improving body representation disturbances.
2017
Inglese
Serino, S., Chirico, A., Pedroli, E., Polli, N., Cacciatore, C., Riva, G., Two-phases innovative treatment for anorexia nervosa: The potential of virtual reality body-swap, <<ANNUAL REVIEW OF CYBERTHERAPY AND TELEMEDICINE>>, 2017; 15 (n/a): 111-115 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/119585]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/119585
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