Cognitive deficits in obese persons with and without binge eating disorder. Investigation using a mental flexibility task

Abstract

Objective: Studies suggest that cognitive deficits and attentional biases play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity and eating disorders. In this study, we simultaneously examine attentional biases, as well as inhibitory control and mental flexibility, which are keys to controlling unwanted behaviors and thoughts in obese patients with and without binge eating disorder. Methods: 16 obese patients with binge eating disorder and 16 patients without binge eating disorder were compared with 16 normal-weight controls on a ‘‘food/body-mental flexibility task'', which allows the investigation of inhibitory control, mental flexibility and attention for stimuli related to the body and food. Results: All obese patients made significantlymore errors (i.e., pressing a key when a distracter displayed) andmore omissions (i.e., not pressing a key when a target displayed) than controls in both food and body sections of the task. Obese participants with binge eating disorder made significantly more errors and omissions than those without binge eating disorder. No difference between groups was found concerning mental flexibility and cognitive biases for food- and body-related targets. Discussion: These results suggest that obese patients have a general inhibition problemand difficulty focusing attention, which do not depend on the types of stimuli processed. The results also suggest that these cognitive deficits are more severe in obese patients with binge eating disorder, which indicates that there is a continuum of increasing inhibition and cognitive problems with increasingly disordered eating. These cognitive deficits may contribute to problematic eating behaviors

Nutritional and Neuropsychological Profile of the Executive Functions on Binge Eating Disorder in Obese Adults

“…In 2011, a study evaluated these functions in obese patients with BED, without BED and people with normal weight, and concluded that obese participants had significantly more errors of commission (pressing keys in response to any stimulus) and more errors of omission (not pressing keys when a target was visible) than those in the control group. In addition, the study showed that obese participants with BED had significantly more errors and omissions that those without the disorder (35). The results from Mobbs et al are consistent with the present study, in which obese patients presented deficits in general inhibitory control and difficulty in relation to selective attention.…”

“…With BED which in turn play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity and eating disorders (35). In 2011, a study evaluated these functions in obese patients with BED, without BED and people with normal weight, and concluded that obese participants had significantly more errors of commission (pressing keys in response to any stimulus) and more errors of omission (not pressing keys when a target was visible) than those in the control group.…”

Facets of impulsivity interactively predict body fat and binge eating in young women

“…Unlike individuals with BED, those with BN additionally engage in compensatory behaviors (e.g., vomiting) in order to prevent weight gain. Some studies found greater delay discounting or poorer response inhibition in obese adults compared to normal-weight individuals (Mobbs, Iglesias, Golay, & Van der Linden, 2011;Nederkoorn, Smulders, Havermans, Roefs, & Jansen, 2006;Weller, Cook, Avsar, & Cox, 2008) or in adults with BED or BN compared to controls (Manwaring, Green, Myerson, Strube, & Wilfley, 2011;Rosval et al, 2006;Wu et al, 2013). These findings, however, are contrasted by a number of studies that did not find differences in delay discounting or response inhibition between those groups (Claes, Mitchell, & Vandereycken, 2012;Claes, Nederkoorn, Vandereycken, Guerrieri, & Vertommen, 2006;Galimberti, Martoni, Cavallini, Erzegovesi, & Bellodi, 2012;Hendrick, Luo, Zhang, & Li, 2012;Loeber et al, 2012;Nederkoorn et al, 2006;Van den Eynde et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2013).…”

Impairment of inhibitory control in response to food-associated cues and attentional bias of obese participants and normal-weight controls

“…In addition, in the go/no-go task we found faster reaction times in response to the presentation of food-associated compared with neutral stimuli for both groups. Interestingly, there are two studies that used a go/no-go task with food-associated (as well as body related) and neutral words to investigate inhibitory control in bulimics 23 and patients with binge eating disorder 29 and also found that all participants tended to respond faster to foodassociated compared with neutral stimuli. Thus, these results suggest that not only obese, but also normal-weight controls show an approach bias for food-associated stimuli.…”