Body Image in Anorexia Nervosa: The Link Between Functional Connectivity Alterations and Spatial Reference Frames

In a recent issue of Biological Psychiatry, Favaro et al. added new insights to the literature exploring the neural correlates of the body image distortion in AN suffers via a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Considering the previous neuropsychological data, we suggest that the findings of Favaro et al. could support, at least in part, the hypothesis that AN patients have an impairment in the egocentric (perceptual) / allocentric (memory) transformation process, mainly related to the dynsfunctions of the posterior parietal areas. In this view, the abnormal functional connectivity found by the authors may produce a relevant clinical effect: an altered memory of the body - not modified by contrasting egocentric parietal representations driven by perception – that primes the processing of any further body-related experience. In simpler words, the anorectic individual is locked to an allocentric (observer view) negative representation of her/his body.