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Face and Object Perception in Body Dysmorphic Disorder versus Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Mooney Faces Task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2017

Wei Lin Toh*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Sciences and Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Alfred Hospital and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
David J. Castle
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Sciences and Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent’s Mental Health, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
Susan L. Rossell
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Sciences and Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Alfred Hospital and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent’s Mental Health, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Wei Lin Toh, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University, John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia. E-mail: wtoh@swin.edu.au

Abstract

Objectives: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by repetitive behaviors and/or mental acts occurring in response to preoccupations with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance. There are some similarities, but also important differences, between BDD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), not just in terms of core clinical symptoms, but possibly in the domain of perception. This study compared the nature and extent of perceptual anomalies in BDD versus OCD and health controls (HC), using a modified Mooney task. Methods: We included 21 BDD, 19 OCD, and 21 HC participants, who were age-, sex-, and IQ-matched. A set of 40 Mooney faces and 40 Mooney objects arranged in three configurations (i.e., upright, inverted, or scrambled) were presented under brief (i.e., 500 ms) free-viewing conditions. Participants were asked to decide whether each image represented a human face, an object, or neither in a forced-choice paradigm. Results: The BDD group showed significantly reduced face and object inversion effects relative to the other two groups. This was accounted for by BDD participants being significantly more accurate in identifying inverted Mooney faces and objects than the other participants. Conclusions: These data were interpreted as reflecting an overreliance on independent components at the expense of holistic (configural) processing in BDD. (JINS, 2017, 23, 471–480)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2017 

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