{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T04:32:09Z","timestamp":1786422729804,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:p>As indicated by the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Italian Society of Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Diseases (SICOB), bariatric surgery is the treatment of choice for severe obesity due to its effectiveness in achieving long-term weight loss and improving associated comorbidities. Many individuals with obesity exhibit profound body dissatisfaction, which often represents a primary motivation for seeking bariatric surgery, sometimes outweighing health-related reasons. Following surgery, a significant reduction in body weight is typically observed; however, perceived body image does not always change in parallel with physical transformation. Some individuals experience difficulties adapting to bodily changes, with a persistent perception of themselves as people with obesity despite substantial weight loss. This phenomenon is typically interpreted in terms of body image disturbances; however, it may also indirectly point to difficulties in updating body representations, potentially involving body schema mechanisms, although this has not yet been directly investigated in bariatric populations. Given the limited number of studies on body schema in this context, this article provides a narrative and theory-driven review of body representation following bariatric surgery. Specifically, it integrates findings from body image research, obesity studies, and embodied cognition to explore whether body schema updating may contribute to the mismatch between physical and perceived body. This interpretation remains hypothetical and highlights a critical gap in the literature, namely the lack of direct empirical investigations of body schema in bariatric populations. Further research is needed to clarify its role in post-operative adaptation and its implications for psychological and behavioural outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874945","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T04:21:38Z","timestamp":1786422098000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["When the body changes faster than the brain: a narrative and theoretical review of body schema updating after bariatric surgery"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Beatrice","family":"Fava","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma","place":["Roma, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Spiezia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma","place":["Roma, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Di Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma","place":["Roma, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Dalla Ragione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma","place":["Roma, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yeganeh Manon","family":"Khazrai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma","place":["Roma, Italy"]},{"name":"Operative Research Unit of Nutrition and Prevention, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico","place":["Roma, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref2","first-page":"9","volume-title":"Linee Guida SICOB","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1793","DOI":"10.1590\/0100-6991e-20181793","article-title":"Perception of body image by patients undergoing bariatric surgery","volume":"45","author":"Lacerda","year":"2018","journal-title":"Rev Col Bras Cir"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1016\/0005-7967(94)90136-8","article-title":"What is the body image?","volume":"32","author":"Slade","year":"1994","journal-title":"Behav Res Ther"},{"key":"ref5","volume-title":"Principles of Neural Science","author":"Kandel","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1269","DOI":"10.1007\/s40519-021-01270-w","article-title":"The role of body image in obese identity changes post bariatric surgery","volume":"27","author":"Mento","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eat Weight Disord"},{"key":"ref7","first-page":"74","article-title":"Phantom limb syndrome: a review","author":"Galea","year":"2021","journal-title":"Minima Medica"},{"key":"ref8","first-page":"605","article-title":"L\u2019asch\u00e9matie","volume":"13","author":"Bonnier","year":"1905","journal-title":"Rev Neurol"},{"key":"ref9","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u00dcber St\u00f6rungen der Orientierung am eigenen K\u00f6rper","volume-title":"Arbeiten aus der Deutschen Psychiatrischen Universit\u00e4tsklinik in Prag","author":"Pick","year":"1908"},{"key":"ref10","first-page":"570","article-title":"Sensory disturbances produced by lesions of the cerebral cortex","volume-title":"Studies in neurology, in two volumns","author":"Head","year":"1920"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1136\/jnnp.56.4.329","article-title":"Penfield's homunculus: a note on cerebral cartography","volume":"56","author":"Schott","year":"1993","journal-title":"J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-3999(93)90001-V","article-title":"Theoretical and empirical considerations on the relation between body image, body scheme and somatosensation","volume":"37","author":"Lautenbacher","year":"1993","journal-title":"J Psychosom Res"},{"key":"ref13","volume-title":"Sport educativo. 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