# Self and Other Perception in Eating Disorders

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $613,834

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses afflicting approximately 5% of women. Anorexia nervosa
(AN) is an ED that includes distortions of body shape and size and restriction of calories resulting in insufficient
nutrition. Bulimia nervosa (BN) is an ED defined by an over-valuation of a thin body size which leads to
dysfunctional eating behaviors, including restriction, binge eating, and purging. Both diseases are defined by
altered beliefs about oneself, including problems of self-perception (body image distortions) and self-esteem.
Previously, we have found neurobiological differences related to self-perception (medial prefrontal cortex and
precuneus) and other-perception (temporoparietal junctions) and social self-evaluations (dorsal anterior
cingulate, insula, medial prefrontal cortex) in EDs. Here, we will conduct a detailed analysis of self and other
perception in a population of 40 women with AN, 40 women with BN, and 40 healthy women, using a series of
complementary functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks in concert with clinical interviews, cognitive
assessments, and self-report measures. The key goal of this project is to understand the neurobiological circuitry
that mediates the core disturbances related to self-perception in EDs. Four different fMRI tasks have been
included that evaluate complementary components of self and other perception. The Self-Tagging task assesses
self-perception independent of social evaluations. The Social Identity with Values Task assesses self-perception
and perspective-taking in the context of socially-defined values. The Affective Trust Game examines how a
specific relationship with another individual develops, by measuring behavioral and neural responses during a
series of economic interactions with a specific other person. The Affective Ultimatum game examines how
behavior, neural activations, and moods change as subjects play a game that includes shifts of society, created
with monetary exchanges. This game will allow a neural, mechanistic examination for a pathological trait believed
to be related to pathogenesis of BN: disordered eating behaviors in BN are associated with exposure to different
social norms such as the “thin-ideal” for female shape/size. In addition, three of these tasks consider differences
for both positive and negative self-relevant stimuli, allowing us to evaluate how valence might contribute to
neurobiological dysfunctions in self and other perception in EDs. We will use dynamic causal modeling (DCM),
a method to examine the timing, directionality, and interactions occurring between different neural regions,
building a network model of how dysfunctions in self-knowledge contribute to EDs. Core symptoms in adult EDs
including feeding symptoms, body preoccupations, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression will be correlated with
differences in the self/other neural circuitry. At conclusion of this study, we will have a biomarker understanding
of t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10150898
- **Project number:** 5R01MH112927-05
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Carrie Justine McAdams
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $613,834
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-25 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10150898

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10150898, Self and Other Perception in Eating Disorders (5R01MH112927-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10150898. Licensed CC0.

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