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The stability of perceptual disturbances in anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Paul E. Garfinkel ,
Harvey Moldofsky  and
David M. Garner
Paul E. Garfinkel*
Affiliation:
Psychosomatic Medicine Unit, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada
Harvey Moldofsky
Affiliation:
Psychosomatic Medicine Unit, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada
David M. Garner
Affiliation:
Psychosomatic Medicine Unit, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Paul E. Garfinkel, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto, Canada M5T 1R8.
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Synopsis

Patients with anorexia nervosa have previously been shown to display disturbances in visual self-perception and interoception. In the present investigation we wished to determine the stability of these disturbances and the effects of weight gain on them. We studied 29 females, 16 patients with primary anorexia nervosa and 13 controls, who had also been studied one year previously. Each subject took part in investigations of body image, using a distorting photograph technique, and interoception, using a satiety aversion to sucrose test. We found that some anorexic subjects tend to overestimate body size and have an absence of aversion to repeated sucrose tastes. Moreover, these disturbances were stable over the year and were not affected by weight change.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , November 1979 , pp. 703 - 708
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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