Dataset of 'Visual adaptation to extreme-sized bodies induces persistent distortion of body size perception'

Body size misperception is a key symptom of eating disorders (ED). Recent studies have supported an emerging theory that the distorted body perception might be associated with adaptation in repeated visual exposures to extreme-sized bodies. However, it remains questionable whether the influence of body size adaptation is sustained enough to affect daily-life body size perception. Here we investigated the timescale of short-term and long-term body size adaptation on perceived body size and studied the underlying neural mechanisms using event-related potentials (ERPs). In two experiments, we demonstrated that adaptation to extremely thin or fat body stimuli would led to a sustained bias of shifting the perceived normal body size towards the adapting body shape. Moreover, repeated adaptation to extremely thin bodies enhanced the anti-fat bias in body processing. These findings provide new evidence for the idea that body size adaptation may be implicated in the development of ED.