Manipulating body representations with virtual reality: Clinical implications for anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa patients exhibit distorted body-representations. Specifically, they represent their bodies as larger than reality. Given that this distortion likely exacerbates the condition, there is an obligation to further understand and, if possible, rectify it. In pursuit of this, experimental...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhilosophical psychology Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 898 - 922
Main Author Gadsby, Stephen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 18.08.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
body-image
body-schema
rubber-hand illusion
treatment
Virtual reality
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Summary:Anorexia nervosa patients exhibit distorted body-representations. Specifically, they represent their bodies as larger than reality. Given that this distortion likely exacerbates the condition, there is an obligation to further understand and, if possible, rectify it. In pursuit of this, experimental paradigms are needed which manipulate the spatial content of these representations. In this essay, I discuss how virtual reality technology that implements full-body variants of the rubber-hand illusion may prove useful in this regard, and I discuss some issues related to the clinical application of this method.
ISSN:0951-5089
1465-394X
DOI:10.1080/09515089.2019.1632425