Objective

Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) exhibit distorted perception and negative evaluations of their own appearance; however, little is known about how they perceive others' appearance, and whether or not the conditions share perceptual distortions.

Method

Thirty participants with BDD, 22 with AN, now weight-restored, and 39 healthy comparison participants (HC) rated photographs of others' faces and bodies on attractiveness, how overweight or underweight they were, and how much photographs triggered thoughts of their own appearance. We compared responses among groups by stimulus type and by level-of-detail (spatial frequency).

Results

Compared to HCs, AN and BDD had lower attractiveness ratings for others' bodies and faces for high-detail and low-detail images, rated bodies as more overweight, and were more triggered to think of their own appearance for faces and bodies. In AN, symptom severity was associated with greater triggering of thoughts of own appearance and higher endorsement of overweight ratings for bodies. In BDD, symptom severity was associated with greater triggering of thoughts of own appearance for bodies and higher overweight ratings for low-detail images. BDD was more triggered to think of own facial appearance than AN.

Discussion

AN and BDD show similar behavioral phenotypes of negative appearance evaluations for others' faces and bodies, and have thoughts of their own appearance triggered even for images outside of their primary appearance concerns, suggesting a more complex cross-disorder body-image phenotype than previously assumed. Future treatment strategies may benefit from addressing how these individuals evaluate others in addition to themselves. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:127-138).

Mutations in the progranulin gene cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that involves atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes and affects personality, behavior, and language. Progranulin-deficient mouse models of FTD exhibit deficits in compulsive and social behaviors reminiscent of patients with FTD, and develop excessive microgliosis and increased release of inflammatory cytokines. Activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) by nicotine or specific α7 nAChR agonists reduces neuroinflammation. Here, we investigated whether activation of nAChRs by nicotine or α7 agonists improved the excessive inflammatory and behavioral phenotypes of a progranulin-deficient FTD mouse model. We found that treatment with selective α7 agonists, PHA-568487 or ABT-107, strongly suppressed the activation of NF-κB in progranulin-deficient cells. Treatment with ABT-107 also reduced microgliosis, decreased TNFα levels, and reduced compulsive behavior in progranulin-deficient mice. Collectively, these data suggest that targeting activation of the α7 nAChR pathway may be beneficial in decreasing neuroinflammation and reversing some of the behavioral deficits observed in progranulin-deficient FTD.