Functional brain mapping of body size estimation using a 3D avatar

TL;DR

This study uses a 3D avatar task during fMRI to identify brain regions involved in body size estimation and finds that the superior parietal lobule is linked to individual differences in accuracy.

Contribution

The study introduces an fMRI-compatible 3D avatar task to investigate the neural basis of body size estimation and its individual variability.

Findings

Task engagement activated body-selective and multisensory regions like the extrastriate body area and superior parietal lobule.

Individual differences in body part girth estimation accuracy were significantly associated with neural responses in the superior parietal lobule.

No other brain regions showed significant associations with estimation accuracy.

Abstract

Body size estimation—the ability to judge the size and shape of one’s own body—is a key perceptual component of body image. However, its neural basis, and the basis for inter-individual differences in accuracy, remain poorly understood, partly due to limitations in existing assessment tools. We used an adapted, fMRI-compatible version of Somatomap 3D, an interactive task in which participants manipulate a rotatable 3D avatar by adjusting the size and shape of 26 individual body parts to match their perceived body. Twenty-eight healthy male and female adults completed the task during fMRI. Brain activity in a priori regions of interest from previous studies of body processing was modeled using a general linear model incorporating event-specific parameters and parametric modulators related to task performance. Inter-individual differences in body size estimation accuracy were calculated using multidimensional scaling of body part estimation errors, and scores were correlated with BOLD signal eigenvariates from regions of interest. Task engagement was associated with significant activation in hypothesized body-selective and multisensory regions, including bilateral extrastriate body area, right fusiform body area, right superior parietal lobule, and bilateral premotor cortex. Multidimensional scaling identified a primary subdimension reflecting distortions in body part girths, which was significantly associated with neural responses in bilateral superior parietal lobule. No other brain regions showed significant associations with inter-individual differences in estimation accuracy. These results suggest that body size estimation engages a distributed network of visual, motor, and parietal regions. Among these, only the superior parietal lobule showed a significant association with inter-individual variation in body size estimation accuracy for body part girths, supporting its role as a candidate neural substrate for altered body representation in psychiatric conditions such as eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-38383-0.

Figures