Body Distortion Research Articles

Utilization of a self-adjusting light beam in the objective assessment of body distortion in seven eating disorder groups

Seven eating disorder groups were assessed via a self-adjustable light beam for levels of body image distortion at seven body sites. Groups were catego- rized on the basis of present weight, past history of lowest weight, and pur- gative activity. The normal weight purging group had significantly higher body distortion levels on three body sites when compared to other clinical groups and control subjects. Results are discussed with regard to research in- dicating that body size distortion may not be specific to traditional anorexic categories.

The relationship of perceived body weight to eating attitudes and body distortion scores in adolescent females: J.W. Greane, K.A. Walinton, C.A. Heller, and J.C. Schurean. Schools of Medicine and Nursing, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

The relationship of perceived body weight to eating attitudes and body distortion scores in adolescent females: J.W. Greane, K.A. Walinton, C.A. Heller, and J.C. Schurean. Schools of Medicine and Nursing, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Differential diagnosis of altered mind/body perception.

Considerable confusion exists in the psychiatric literature concerned with states of consciousness in which there is an altered perception of the mind/body relationship; related but different terms are often used interchangeably, with a lack of definitional rigor. The purpose of this paper is to bring clarity to this group of related phenomena by differentiating out-of-body experience (OBE) from depersonalization, autoscopic phenomena and schizophrenic body distortions (such as boundary loss), which are the principal entities with which the syndrome may be confused. The problem of variable definition of the syndromes is compounded by the fact that some studies deal with psychiatric or medical patients, others focus on nonpatients, and still others deal with both groups. The fact that some groups of persons with experiences of altered mind/body perception do not define themselves as patients, do not seek treatment, and may not need treatment underscores the need for clarification. Following an explication of the different syndromes and their characteristics, we will briefly consider treatment implications.

An Exploration of Perception of Body Boundary, Personal Space, and Body Size in Elderly Persons

A study of 108 elderly persons using the Body Distortion Questionnaire and the personal space simulation technique test did not support hypotheses that elderly persons with a large personal space will have a larger distortion of body boundary, a larger perception of large body size, a smaller perception of small body size, a larger distortion of body size, and a larger body distortion than elderly persons with a small personal space. The analyses with one-tail t tests showed elderly persons with a small personal space have a larger perception of large body size and a larger distortion of body size than elderly persons with a large personal space. When the extremes of personal space were used the results were the same. Males have a larger personal space and greater distortion of skin perceptions than females.

Freeze-drying of Spiders and Immature Insects Using Commercial Equipment

Spiders from 6 families and immature insects from 12 families (4 orders) are successfully freeze-dried with commercial equipment. Vacuum pressure, heat sink temperature and area, specimen temperature, and distance of specimen from the heat sink affects the efficiency of freeze-drying. The time necessary for drying of a specimen varies with each species and is not related to the size of the specimen. Color preservation in all cases is superior to preservation in fluids and body distortions are minimal.

Response to cigarette deprivation as a function of oral fantasy.

The role of oral fantasy in reactions of heavy smokers to smoking deprivation was studied. Experimental subjects were first evaluated with the Holtzman Inkblot Test to measure amount of oral fantasy. They also evaluated themselves on a number of Semantic Differential continua. Smoking deprivation followed. Retest Holtzman blots and Semantic Differential rating scales were then administered. Subjects also indicated number of somatic symptoms and body image distortions produced by deprivation. Control subjects followed the same paradigm except they smoked throughout the procedure. It was found that the greater the orality of experimental subjects the greater the number of somatic symptoms and body distortions they experienced following deprivation; and the more they viewed self as having shifted in a less favorable and less potent direction. Such relationships were absent in the control group.

Sex-role development and response to medication by psychiatric in-patients.

This study explored the relationship between sex-role development and response to taking medication by male and female psychiatric inpatients. The major hypotheses were that the more feminine an S's orientation the less resistance he would show to taking medication, the fewer adverse side effects he would report, and the fewer unusual body distortions he would acknowledge. All hypotheses were supported for women, and trends were noted for the second and third hypotheses for men. Differences between the men and women in length of hospitalization and drug treatment may account for the difference in results.

Induction and Extinction of Psilocybin Induced Transformations of Visual Space

There is a “natural” tendency to misjudge the position of the visual as compared to the gravitational vertical. A 160 µg/kg psilocybin-induced accentuation of this misjudgment in 16 college-age volunteers, and a further augmentation in their accentuated drug response after exposure to strong body distortion is reported.

A comparison of drawings and sentence completion responses of congenital heart children with normal children.

Summary The House-Tree-Person, Sentence Completion and Inside-of-the-Body tests were administered to 20 congenital heart children and their matched controls. The stories of the H-T-P test of the congenital heart children tended to have more themes about illness-health, and life-death than those of the normal children. Similarly, more themes of illness-health were found in the congenital heart children on the Sentence Completion test (P < .001). Although the congenital heart children did not draw a greater number of hearts than the control children, they did reveal a tendency to draw relatively larger hearts and relatively fewer other internal organs (P < .05). A major implication of the findings is that the body distortion of a congenital heart child pertains more to his perception of the inside of his body than to the view of his external body. This suggests that the Inside-of-the-Body test would be a useful addition to projective techniques aimed at investigating distortion of body image by the physically handicapped.

The evolution of arthropodan locomotory mechanisms. Part 9. Functional requirements and body design in Symphyla and Pauropoda and the relationships between Myriapoda and pterygote Insects

The Symphyla and Pauropoda live in crevices in soil and woodland litter. Both are vegetarian and incapable of forcing a passage through the substratum. The habit of Symphyla to twist and turn in any plane, without the body distortions shown by Onychophora, appears to have been the main determinant of the principal features of trunk construction, enabling these animals to penetrate deeply without pushing. Pauropodan trunk structure is correlated with the ability to use fast patterns of gait, but the stepping is not rapid. The necessary trunk rigidity is associated with a short body, manoeuvrable as a whole without much flexure. The Symphyla achieve speeds of running which, in relation to their size, are comparable with those of fast-moving Chilopoda. But fleetness is obtained in a most unusual manner, by combination of slow patterns of gait with very rapid stepping. Such movements result in great stability and are compatible with extreme flexibility of body. The Pauropoda, with very few legs in contact with the ground at any one moment, are very unstable, but they can maintain rigidity. Cuticular features promoting:- (i) trunk flexibility in Symphyla are: the posterolateral lobes on the tergites; intercalary tergites; extra tergites on trunk segments 4, 6 and 8 in Scutigerellidae and on at least segments 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 in Scolopendrellidae; and the paired sternites well-separated longitudinally; and (ii) cuticular features promoting trunk rigidity in Pauropoda are: the extreme heteronomy in tergites; and a chilopod-like sternal region, although little sclerotized. Trunk musculature promotes:- (i) flexibility in Symphyla by: the short dorsal longitudinal muscles; the absence of deep dorso-ventral and oblique muscles; the large superficial pleural muscles; and the elaborate short sectors of the ventral longitudinal muscle associated with the coxal apodeme; and (ii) rigidity in Pauropoda by: the long dorsal longitudinal muscles; the well-developed deep dorso-ventral and oblique muscles, muscle dvmp. being extremely long and oblique; the absence of superficial pleural muscles; and the form of the ventral longitudinal muscles. The functional interpretations of skeleton and musculature given here tally with those already put forward for Chilopoda and Diplopoda. The general form of the coxa and its movement on the body in Symphyla and Pauropoda resembles the Chilopoda in showing a promotor-remotor swing and a parasagittal rock on the body. Symphyla in addition show slight adductor-abductor movements. The Skeleton-musculature causing these movements resembles that of Chilopoda in principle but differs in some details. The skeleto-musculature of the telopod of Pauropoda and Symphyla are shown to be correlated with the different types of gait employed and with other requirements of these animals. A basic similarity is shown by the telopods of all Myriapoda, the differences being correlated with functional needs. A fundamental difference between the morphology and modes of action of the coxa-sternite articulation of myriapods and the coxa-pleurite articulation of pterygote insects suggests a deep-seated evolutionary dichotomy which has resulted in the contrasting features of the whole leg in these groups. The potential for the evolution of a few pairs of legs on a many segmented body, and for some of their extrinsic muscles to be convertible into flight muscles, is associated with the pterygote type of coxa-body articulation. These advances could not have originated from the myriapodan type of coxa-body articulation and all that depends upon it. Evidence is summarized in support of the concepts of:- distant phylogenetic unity between the Onychophora, Myriapoda and Hexapoda; independence of pterygote insect origin from the Myriapoda; and of parallel evolution of the four classes of Myriapoda.Support is given once more for the view that the Onychophora-Myriapoda-Insecta assemblage could not have originated either from the Chelicerata or from the Crustacea.

An extension of the linearized theory of supersonic flow past quasi-cylindrical bodies, with applications to wing-body interference

An extension of the linearized theory of supersonic flow past quasi-cylindrical bodies of almost circular cross-section has been found which enables a direct calculation to be made of the overall forces on wings mounted on such bodies, subject to certain restrictions on the plan-form. The method is applied to two examples: (i) the effect of an arbitrary body distortion on static stability at supersonic speeds; and (ii) the effect of wing-body interference on rectangular wings mounted on a cylindrical body. The drag calculations in the second example are compared with the results of the supersonic area rule, which is found to be in error for moderate values of the ratio of wing chord to body radius, though the discrepancy is not serious from a practical point of view.

Quantitative ballistocardiography in aortic insufficiency: With a note on the hemodynamic effects of a Hufnagel valve

The heaviest left ventricles are associated with aortic insufficiency, 1 although the pressure-volume component of cardiac work in this condition is said to be normal or but moderately increased. 2,3 Ventricular hypertrophy is related rather to the work of imparting momentum to the blood. The ultra-low-frequency ballistocardiograph measures the impulse of force equivalent to body momentum change, and is, therefore, ideally suited to the study of aortic insufficiency. With recording systems which largely eliminate body distortion the ballistic deflections may be related to discrete physiologic events and force expressed in absolute units. 4,5 In this investigation, an “aperiodic” ballistocardiograph is employed to measure the hyperkinesis of aortic insufficiency, to estimate the magnitude of cardiac kinetic work as reflected by body motion, and to study the hemodynamic effects of a Hufnagel valve. Though the origin of the systolic ballistic waves is known, 4 the diastolic complex is less well understood. Because the aortic standing wave is diminished or absent in advanced aortic insufficiency, 6 the ballistocardiograms of such patients may be utilized to elucidate the role of the standing wave in the genesis of diastolic vibrations.