Landmark Study Claims To Have Figured Out Why You Think You Look Fat

We've all known for years that women (and men) have no idea what they actually look like or just how beautiful they really are.

Now, there's scientific proof -- and some interesting findings to partly explain the phenomenon:

Women's brains ‘massively distort’ their own body image, creating a shorter figure which can be two-thirds wider than in real life, scientists have suggested.

[P]articipants estimated their hands to be about two-thirds wider and a third shorter than actual measurements showed they were.

‘Some people look in the mirror and receive information which tells them there are not fat, but they still can’t use that to override their distorted body model and make themselves believe it.’

Scientists believe ‘position sense’ - the ability to know where all parts of the body are even with eyes closed - depends on two kinds of information.

The first consists of signals from muscles and joints which, for instance, provide clues about whether limbs are straight or bent.

But the brain also needs a mental model of the shape and size of each body part, say experts.

In addition to explaining why people add twenty pounds to their mental picture of themselves, the research may shed some lights on anorexia and other eating disorders.

Read more at The Daily Mail.

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