Childhood maltreatment and trauma is common and severe in body dysmorphic disorder.

Background: Childhood maltreatment and trauma may be risk factors for the development of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). However, the limited research to date on these topics has been constrained by either the absence of a matched healthy control group or non-comprehensive assessments.

Methods: This study assessed the prevalence and severity of childhood maltreatment and other traumatic events in 52 BDD participants (56% female) and 57 matched controls (51% female) with no history of mental illness, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and a checklist assessing broader traumatic events.

Empirical evidence for cognitive subgroups in body dysmorphic disorder.

Objective: Current understanding of cognitive functioning in body dysmorphic disorder is limited, owing to few studies, small sample sizes and assessment across only limited cognitive domains. Existing research has also shown inconsistent findings, with both intact and impaired cognition reported in body dysmorphic disorder, which might point towards cognitive heterogeneity in the disorder. This study aimed to examine the cognitive profile of body dysmorphic disorder in a large sample across eight cognitive domains, and to explore whether cognitive subgroups might be identified within body dysmorphic disorder.

The influence of COMT rs4680 on functional connectivity in healthy adults: A systematic review.

The aim of this systematic review was to qualitatively synthesise the available research that investigated the influence of COMT genotype at SNP rs4680 on both task-based and resting-state connectivity in healthy adults. Thirty-five studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. Of the included studies, 20 studies reported resting-state findings and 16 studies reported task-based findings (emotion-processing, memory, working memory, reward-based learning and executive function).

Intranasal oxytocin alters amygdala-temporal resting-state functional connectivity in body dysmorphic disorder: A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial.

The aetiology of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is poorly understood. Recent evidence from functional brain imaging studies suggests that BDD is associated with aberrant task-based functional connectivity and that intranasal oxytocin (OXT) may improve network connectivity in BDD patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intranasal OXT on amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in BDD.

Impaired Recognition of Negative Facial Emotions in Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Objectives: Patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have difficulty in recognising facial emotions, and there is evidence to suggest that there is a specific deficit in identifying negative facial emotions, such as sadness and anger.

Methods: This study investigated facial emotion recognition in 19 individuals with BDD compared with 21 healthy control participants who completed a facial emotion recognition task, in which they were asked to identify emotional expressions portrayed in neutral, happy, sad, fearful, or angry faces.

Results: Compared to the healthy control participants, the BDD patients were generally less accurate in identifying all facial emotions but showed specific deficits for negative emotions.

Body parts of clinical concern in anorexia nervosa versus body dysmorphic disorder: a cross-diagnostic comparison.

Objectives: Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder share a hallmark clinical feature of severe body image disturbance. This study aimed to document major demographic and clinical characteristics in anorexia nervosa versus body dysmorphic disorder, and it was the first to compare specific body parts related to body image dissatisfaction across these disorders directly.

Methods: Anorexia nervosa (=26) and body dysmorphic disorder (=24) patients were administered a range of clinical measures, including key questions about the specificities of their body image concerns.

Oxytocin and brain activity in humans: A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of functional MRI studies.

Oxytocin (OXT) is a neuropeptide which has a critical role in human social behaviour and cognition. Research investigating the role of OXT on functional brain changes in humans has often used task paradigms that probe socioemotional processes. Preliminary evidence suggests a central role of the amygdala in the social cognitive effects of intranasal OXT (IN-OXT), however, inconsistencies in task-design and analysis methods have led to inconclusive findings regarding a cohesive model of the neural mechanisms underlying OXT's actions.

The neurobiology of body dysmorphic disorder: A systematic review and theoretical model.

There has been an increase in neuroimaging research in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), yet little is known about the underlying neurobiological basis of the disorder. We aimed to provide a systematic overview of the literature on the neurobiology of BDD. Two reviewers undertook a search of three electronic research databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar.

Reduced cortical thickness in body dysmorphic disorder.

Recent neuroimaging studies in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have implicated abnormal structure and function of occipito-temporal and fronto-limbic regions in the potential pathophysiology of the disorder. To date, morphometric investigations have yielded inconsistent results, and have suggested that clinical symptoms may mediate structural brain abnormalities in BDD. We measured Grey Matter (GM) cortical thickness in 20 participants with BDD and 20 healthy control participants matched on age, gender, estimated IQ and handedness.