Current study: Visual processing of faces in body dysmorphic disorder

Principal Investigator: Jamie Feusner, M.D.

People with BDD seem to have distortions in their perception of their appearance, often selectively perceiving small details of their “defects.” They also scrutinize details of others’ appearance and compare them to their own. Could one of the bases for these symptoms have to do with how they are visually processing information? In this study we are using a type of brain scan called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine which regions of the brain are active while processing visual information. Specifically we wish to determine if there are differences in how the brains of individuals with BDD process faces, as compared to those of healthy control subjects. We are also studying how their brains process non-face objects including houses, figures, and letters.

Participation in the study involves two visits. In the first visit the participant will meet with Dr. Feusner for a diagnostic evaluation to determine if he/she has BDD. This visit will also include paper-and-pencil rating scales and brief computer tasks. The second visit will be the actual brain scan. Participants will be compensated for their time.

"Visual Information Processing of Faces in Body Dysmorphic Disorder" has been published online in Archives of General Psychiatry

Prior studies:

• Informational Processing in Body Dysmorphic Disorder and the Functional Neuroanatomical Correlates
  Principal Investigator: Jamie Feusner, M.D.
• Processing of Faces with Emotional Expressions in Body Dysmorphic Disorder
  Principal Investigator: Jamie Feusner, M.D.
• Magnetic resonance volumetric analysis of brain regions in body dysmorphic disorder
  Principal Investigator: Jamie Feusner, M.D