Jamie D Feusner1, Florian Kurth2, Eileen Luders3, Ronald Ly4, Wan-Wa Wong4. 1. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Electronic address: jamie.feusner@utoronto.ca. 2. School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 3. Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) misperceive that they have prominent defects in their appearance, resulting in preoccupations, time-consuming rituals, and distress. Previous neuroimaging studies have found abnormal activation patterns in the extrastriate visual cortex, which may underlie experiences of distorted perception of appearance. Correspondingly, we investigated gray matter volumes in individuals with BDD in the early extrastriate visual cortex using cytoarchitectonically defined maps that were previously derived from postmortem brains. METHODS: We analyzed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data from 133 unmedicated male and female participants (BDD: n = 65; healthy control subjects: n = 68). We used cytoarchitectonically defined probability maps for the early extrastriate cortex, consisting of areas corresponding to V2, V3d, V3v/VP, V3a, and V4v. Gray matter volumes were compared between groups, supplemented by testing associations with clinical symptoms. RESULTS: The BDD group exhibited significantly larger gray matter volumes in the left and right early extrastriate cortex. Region-specific follow-up analyses revealed multiple subregions showing larger volumes in BDD, significant in the left V4v. There were no significant associations after corrections for multiple comparisons between gray matter volumes in early extrastriate cortex and BDD symptoms, comorbid symptoms, or duration of illness. CONCLUSIONS: Greater volumes of the early extrastriate visual cortex were evident in those with BDD, which aligns with outcomes of prior studies revealing BDD-specific functional abnormalities in these regions. Enlarged volumes of the extrastriate cortex in BDD might manifest during neurodevelopment, which could predispose individuals to aberrant visual perception and contribute to the core phenotype of distortion of perception for appearance.
BACKGROUND: Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) misperceive that they have prominent defects in their appearance, resulting in preoccupations, time-consuming rituals, and distress. Previous neuroimaging studies have found abnormal activation patterns in the extrastriate visual cortex, which may underlie experiences of distorted perception of appearance. Correspondingly, we investigated gray matter volumes in individuals with BDD in the early extrastriate visual cortex using cytoarchitectonically defined maps that were previously derived from postmortem brains. METHODS: We analyzed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data from 133 unmedicated male and female participants (BDD: n = 65; healthy control subjects: n = 68). We used cytoarchitectonically defined probability maps for the early extrastriate cortex, consisting of areas corresponding to V2, V3d, V3v/VP, V3a, and V4v. Gray matter volumes were compared between groups, supplemented by testing associations with clinical symptoms. RESULTS: The BDD group exhibited significantly larger gray matter volumes in the left and right early extrastriate cortex. Region-specific follow-up analyses revealed multiple subregions showing larger volumes in BDD, significant in the left V4v. There were no significant associations after corrections for multiple comparisons between gray matter volumes in early extrastriate cortex and BDD symptoms, comorbid symptoms, or duration of illness. CONCLUSIONS: Greater volumes of the early extrastriate visual cortex were evident in those with BDD, which aligns with outcomes of prior studies revealing BDD-specific functional abnormalities in these regions. Enlarged volumes of the extrastriate cortex in BDD might manifest during neurodevelopment, which could predispose individuals to aberrant visual perception and contribute to the core phenotype of distortion of perception for appearance.
Authors: Anna W Roe; Leonardo Chelazzi; Charles E Connor; Bevil R Conway; Ichiro Fujita; Jack L Gallant; Haidong Lu; Wim Vanduffel Journal: Neuron Date: 2012-04-12 Impact factor: 17.173
Authors: Teena D Moody; Francesca Morfini; Gigi Cheng; Courtney L Sheen; Wesley T Kerr; Michael Strober; Jamie D Feusner Journal: Brain Imaging Behav Date: 2021-06 Impact factor: 3.224