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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 42249127 DOI: 10.1038/s44184-026-00221-6

Reshaping restriction: virtual embodiment modulates eating biases in anorexia nervosa.

Npj Ment Health Res

Authors: M Dimakopoulou, T Ciorli, M Pyasik, M Da Col, F Boggio, C Andriulli, F Bevione, M Romanisio, M Martini, M Guerraz, G Abbate-Daga, L Pia

Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology, SAMBA (SpAtial, Motor & Bodily Awareness) Research Group, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
  • Department of Psychology, SAMBA (SpAtial, Motor & Bodily Awareness) Research Group, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
  • Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
  • Department of Neuroscience, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
  • Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France.
  • Neuroscience Institute of Turin (NIT), Turin, Italy.

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) involves extreme food restriction and body image disturbances, partly sustained by altered responses to food cues, including implicit and behavioral avoidance, especially toward high-calorie foods. We tested whether altering body ownership in virtual reality could modulate such biases. Female participants with restricting-subtype AN (AN-R; n = 29) and healthy controls (HC; n = 31) completed three sessions: a baseline and two full-body illusion (FBI) sessions in which they embodied slimmer or larger avatars than their own body size. Across sessions, they performed a binocular rivalry task and a food-specific approach-avoidance task with high- and low-calorie foods, together with body-size estimation and symptom measures. At baseline, AN-R participants showed greater perceptual salience and stronger avoidance of high-calorie foods than HC. Relative to the baseline, embodying a larger avatar attenuated avoidance in AN-R, whereas HC showed the opposite pattern. These findings suggest that the FBI can transiently modify implicit food-related avoidance in AN-R.

MeSH

Bias, Anorexia, Eating, Food, Anorexia Nervosa