Brain images show women fear being fat
April 17th 2010 20:24
signature tune
From: ABC News 4
Reported by: Barbara Smith
Human Brain PROVO, UTAH (ABC 4 News) A new study conducted by BYU shows even women considered to have a healthy body image may have tendencies towards eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The women in the study were evaluated with verified psychological screening and presented no red flags, in fact, they projected that they didn’t care about body image. Their brains told a different story.
BYU psychology professor, Diane Spangler says “Many women struggle with body image and their self concept and how they look.” But now scientists can see that struggle as it occurs inside the brain. Researchers used MRI technology to study the medial pre-frontal cortex. Mark Allen, a BYU neuroscientist says “You will recruit that area of the brain to make adjustments to your self perception. It’s responsible for housing your self identity; who you are, what you are all about.”
They found that it becomes activated, lights up, when women with an eating disorder views an image of an overweight stranger. But when women diagnosed as psychologically healthy saw the same images there was a surprising result. Dr. Allen says” there was something close to what you would see in a bulimic, not identical, but closer to it than we would have expected.”
It’s a phenomenon experienced only by women. Men studied showed no negative brain activity when viewing images of overweight men. Dr. Spangler says” the women definitely seemed to base their self concept on their appearance, in particular, the notion of being overweight would be threatening to them.”
Researcher says that response graphically illustrates a threat to the young women studied. Dr. Allen says “many women are teetering on the edge of eating disorders, and especially young women, and this is something to be cautious about.”
They say it’s also a reflection on how the images women see daily are changing them in a very measurable way. Dr. Spangler says “the extent to which our culture bombards people with appearance is what matters, has a real affect all of the way down to the individual level, all of the way down to ones brain.” She says false ideas about self worth based on appearance lead to a greater risk for eating and mood disorders.
Researchers say the information discovered in this study could potentially be used to diagnose women on the verge of eating disorders and treat those who are battling anorexia and bulimia.
The study can be found in the May issue of the psychological journal Personality and Individual Differences.
| 74 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
