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Besides all visible somatic manifestations, distorted body representation is a key symptom for anorexia nervosa (AN). Body representation can be divided into a conscious component, body image, and an unconscious action‐related one, body schema. As behavioral studies already explored the impact of a distorted body image in AN, we aimed to explore whether distortion also extends into unconscious body schema. This study is the first with an unbiased measurement of the body schema in a homogeneous sample of AN patients.

Twenty‐three patients diagnosed with AN and 23 healthy controls (HC) walked through a door like aperture varying in width. Door width was based on participants shoulder width and ranged from an aperture‐to‐shoulder‐ratio of (A/S) 0.9 to 1.45. Shoulder rotation was measured as indication of perceived body width. To measure the unconscious body schema, we …