. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Nov 21.

Published in final edited form as: Body Image. 2008 Mar 7;5(1):10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.11.002. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.11.002

Table 1. Imbalances, networks, and regions possibly involved in the pathophysiology of BDD.

Imbalance, network, or region implicated	Evidence
Hemispheric imbalances
•Anterior temporal lobe	Lesion studies
•Parahippocampal gyrus	Body image and eating disorder studies
•Dorsal occipital cortex	Studies of self perception in healthy controls
•IFG and lateral temporal lobe	Face processing fMRI study of BDD
•IPL	Eating disorder studies
•Fusiform gyrus	Studies of processing faces and body image words in healthy controls Eating disorder studies
Frontal-striatal circuits	Obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors Morphometric MRI study of BDD Neuropsychological studies of BDD PANDAS variant case report
Amygdala hyper-reactivity	Face processing fMRI study of BDD
Insula hyper-reactivity	Studies of disgust and aversion in healthy controls and OCD
5-HT system	Lower platelet 5-HT transporter density in BDD Case reports: tryptophan depletion, 5-HT agonists and antagonists Improvement of BDD symptoms with SRIs

BDD=body dysmorphic disorder; IFG=inferior frontal gyrus; IPL=inferior parietal lobule; fMRI=functional magnetic resonance imaging; MRI=magnetic resonance imaging; PANDAS=pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection; OCD=obsessive-compulsive disorder; 5-HT=5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin); SRI=serotonin reuptake inhibitor