TY - JOUR
T1 - The perception of affective touch in anorexia nervosa
AU - Crucianelli, Laura
AU - Cardi, Valentina
AU - Treasure, Janet
AU - Jenkinson, Paul M
AU - Fotopoulou, Aikaterini
N1 - This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Psychiatry Research following peer review.
The version of record [Psychiatry Research (May 2016) Vol 239 pp. 72-78, first published online March 3, 2016] is available online at doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.01.078
© 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
PY - 2016/5/30
Y1 - 2016/5/30
N2 - Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by restricted eating, fears of gaining weight, and body image distortions. The etiology remains unknown; however impairments in social cognition and reward circuits contribute to the onset and maintenance of the disorder. One possibility is that AN is associated with reduced perceived pleasantness during social interactions. We therefore examined the perception of interpersonal, 'affective touch' and its social modulation in AN. We measured the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic stroking touches applied to the forearm of 25 AN patients and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (3cm/s) and non-optimal (18cm/s) velocities, while simultaneously displaying images of faces showing rejecting, neutral and accepting expressions. CT-optimal touch, but not CT non-optimal touch, elicited significantly lower pleasantness ratings in AN patients compared with healthy controls. Pleasantness ratings were modulated by facial expressions in both groups in a similar fashion; namely, presenting socially accepting faces increased the perception of touch pleasantness more than neutral and rejecting faces. Our findings suggest that individuals with AN have a disordered, CT-based affective touch system. This impairment may be linked to their weakened interoceptive perception and distorted body representation.
AB - Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by restricted eating, fears of gaining weight, and body image distortions. The etiology remains unknown; however impairments in social cognition and reward circuits contribute to the onset and maintenance of the disorder. One possibility is that AN is associated with reduced perceived pleasantness during social interactions. We therefore examined the perception of interpersonal, 'affective touch' and its social modulation in AN. We measured the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic stroking touches applied to the forearm of 25 AN patients and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (3cm/s) and non-optimal (18cm/s) velocities, while simultaneously displaying images of faces showing rejecting, neutral and accepting expressions. CT-optimal touch, but not CT non-optimal touch, elicited significantly lower pleasantness ratings in AN patients compared with healthy controls. Pleasantness ratings were modulated by facial expressions in both groups in a similar fashion; namely, presenting socially accepting faces increased the perception of touch pleasantness more than neutral and rejecting faces. Our findings suggest that individuals with AN have a disordered, CT-based affective touch system. This impairment may be linked to their weakened interoceptive perception and distorted body representation.
U2 - 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.01.078
DO - 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.01.078
M3 - Article
C2 - 27137964
SN - 0165-1781
VL - 239
SP - 72
EP - 78
JO - Psychiatry Research
JF - Psychiatry Research
ER -