Selective visual attention for ugly and beautiful body parts in eating disorders

Body image disturbance is characteristic of eating disorders, and current treatments use body exposure to reduce bad body feelings. There is however little known about the cognitive effects of body exposure. In the present study, eye movement registration (electroculography) as a direct index of selective visual attention was used while eating symptomatic and normal control participants were exposed to digitalized pictures of their own body and control bodies. The data showed a decreased focus on their own 'beautiful' body parts in the high symptomatic participants, whereas inspection of their own 'ugly' body parts was given priority. In the normal control group a self-serving cognitive bias was found: they focused more on their own 'beautiful' body parts and less on their own 'ugly' body parts. When viewing other bodies the pattern was reversed: high symptom participants allocated their attention to the beautiful parts of other bodies, whereas normal controls concentrated on the ugly parts of the other bodies. From the present findings the hypothesis follows that a change in the processing of information might be needed for body exposure to be successful

Expectancy violation, reduction of food cue reactivity and less eating in the absence of hunger after one food cue exposure session for overweight and obese women

The present study investigated whether a single-session of food cue exposure for overweight women would decrease 'if CS then US' expectancies, cue reactivity and eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). EAH was measured in a behavioural paradigm that enabled to also investigate whether the cue exposure effects were specific for exposed foods or would generalise to food items that were not present during exposure. Overweight women were randomly assigned to either the cue exposure intervention or a control intervention that focused on body image. In line with the hypotheses, results showed that cue exposure induced a significant decrease in 'if CS then US' expectancies, in contrast to the control intervention. It was also found that, compared to the control intervention, desires to eat initially increased during cue exposure while gradual extinction was observed towards the end of the intervention. No extinction of increased salivation responses was found. Regarding EAH, the intake of the exposed food item was significantly less in the exposure condition than in the control condition, whereas total caloric food intake was not different between conditions, indicating that cue exposure was effective in reducing intake but did not generalise to the intake of other food items. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Impulsivity predicts treatment outcome in obese children

Treatment for obesity is still running short, particularly on the long term. However, some people do take advantage of treatments and are able to retain their weight loss. What makes the difference between those who can keep their weight loss and those who cannot? One possible predictor of relapse in obesity treatment is impulsivity. Overall, obese people are found to be more impulsive than lean people, especially obese binge eaters. Intuitively, it would make sense that the most impulsive people are less able to keep control over eating behaviour. Therefore, impulsivity could serve as an obstacle for treatment. In the present study impulsivity was measured with a behavioural task (the stop signal task) in 26 obese children. Overweight of the children was measured before and after treatment and at 6 and 12 months follow ups. The results show that impulsivity was related to overweight at all moments: The most impulsive children were the most overweight ones; even after 12 months. Moreover, impulsivity predicted therapy success: the most impulsive children lost less weight. Impulsivity appears to contribute to the difference between succeeding or failing in attempts to lose weight

New developments in cognitive-behavioural therapy for eating disorders (CBT-ED)

Purpose of review This review summarizes recent developments in cognitive-behavioural therapy for eating disorders (CBT-ED). More specifically, the past five years were covered, with the latest UK and Dutch guidelines for eating disorders as a starting benchmark, and with special consideration of the past 18 months. Recent findings The new research can be divided into findings that have: (1) reinforced our existing understanding of CBT-ED's models and impact; (2) advanced our understanding and the utility of CBT-ED, including its application for the ‘new’ disorder Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID); (3) suggested new directions, which require further exploration in clinical and research terms. These include learning from the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Summary CBT-ED has developed substantially in the past 5 years, with consolidation of its existing evidence base, further support for real-life implementation, extension of methods used, and the development of new approaches for working with younger people – particularly in the form of treatments for ARFID. Over the past 18 months, even more promising changes in delivery occurred in response to the COVID19 pandemic, showing that we can adapt our methods in order to work effectively via remote means. Challenges remain regarding poor outcomes for anorexia nervosa

Fear of blushing: effects of task concentration training versus exposure in vivo on fear and physiology.

Patients with fear of blushing as the predominant complaint (N = 31) were randomly assigned to (1) exposure in vivo (EXP), or (2) task concentration training (TCT), in order to test the effect of redirecting attention above exposure only. In addition, it was investigated whether treatment reduced actual blush behavior; therefore, physiological parameters of blushing were measured during two behavioral tests. Half of the patients served as waiting-list controls first. Assessments were held before and after treatment, at 6-weeks, and at 1-year follow-up. Both treatments appeared to be effective in reducing fear of blushing and realizing cognitive change, Yet, at posttest, TCT tended to produce better results with respect to fear of blushing. At 6-weeks follow-up, TCT produced significantly more cognitive change. At 1-year follow-up, patients further improved, while differential effects had disappeared, The reduction in fear of blushing was not paralleled by a reduction in actual blush behavior during the behavioral assessments. Thus, it seems that fear of blushing reflects a fearful preoccupation, irrespective of actual facial coloration

Psychopathology symptoms in a sample of female cosmetic surgery patients

Objective: During the past decades, cosmetic surgery has become increasingly popular. People with certain psychopathology disorders, for example, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), are dissatisfied with their physical appearance, and a significant number try to receive cosmetic medical treatment for their complaints. It seems relatively easy for them to receive this type of surgery, despite the fact that it has no or even adverse effects on the symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological condition and especially the presence of psychopathological symptoms such as BDD in cosmetic surgery patients. Methods: Questionnaires about body image dissatisfaction, symptoms of BDD and psychopathology in general and satisfaction about surgery were sent to patients who had been treated in a large cosmetic surgery clinic. Results: Of the patients who replied, 86% were pleased with the outcome of the cosmetic procedure. Further, 21-59% of these former patients scored higher on questionnaires of body image dissatisfaction and psychopathological symptoms than a norm group from the general population. When differentiating the group on the basis of BDD symptomatology, it appeared that the high BDD symptomatic group displayed significantly worse outcome on all measurements. That is, high BDD symptomatic patients were more dissatisfied about the result of surgery, exhibited higher levels of psychopathology, and had lower self-esteem than the low symptomatic BDD patients. Conclusion: These findings clearly suggest that the evaluation of the psychological condition and motivation of the candidate patient might be a valuable addition to the standard procedure in cosmetic medical treatment settings

Overweight children overeat after exposure to food cues

Overweight is becoming more common in children, but we know nearly nothing about the eating behavior of overweight children. Learning theory predicts that overeating follows from learned associations between the smell and taste of palatable food on the one hand and intake on the other hand. It was tested whether overweight children overeat after confrontation to these cues. They indeed failed to regulate food intake after both the exposure to the intense smell of tasty food (without eating it) and after eating a small preload of appetizing food, whereas normal-weight children decreased their intake after both cues. Overweight children are thus more vulnerable to triggers of overeating. Their overeating was not related to psychological factors like mood, body esteem, and a restrained eating style, but it was related to cue-elicited salivation flow. Apart from supporting the cue reactivity model of overeating, the data point to an interesting satiety phenomenon in normal eaters after prolonged and intense smelling palatable food without eating it

Optical lithography into the millennium: Sensitivity to aberrations, vibration and polarization

ABSTRACT Various factors, such as lens aberrations, system vibration and the choice of illumination polarization can degrade the level of modulation, and hence, image quality. This paper discusses the sensitivity of multiple feature types to these factors. It is shown that aberration sensitivity increases linearly with decreasing resolution, scaled to the Rayleigh criteria. An analysis of the vibration tolerance is done for transverse and axial vibration planes, where the effects on the process window and CD uniformity are measured. The vibration is shown to decrease the process window greater for low contrast images and is shown to scale directly with the resolution. The new millennium will usher in optical systems with very high NA lenses (>0.75 NA) for 248 nm, 193 nm and 157 nm. This paper re-examines the role of the polarization on required specifications of the exposure tool optics. It is found that tight polarization specifications with <10% residual polarization will be needed for future systems