Our data suggest that the impaired implicit learning observed in adolescent AN patients before weight gain is a state-related dysfunction that normalises with weight gain. Thus, implicit learning deficits do not appear to represent a predisposition towards developing AN; rather, these deficits should be considered when planning psychotherapeutic interventions for acute AN. Reduced thalamic activation during the acute stage of AN may indicate a starvation-induced dysfunction of the neural circuitry that is involved in behavioural flexibility.