State or trait: the neurobiology of anorexia nervosa — contributions of a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

Background The understanding of the cerebral neurobiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) with respect to state- versus trait-related abnormalities is limited. There is evidence of restitution of structural brain alterations with clinical remission. However, with regard to functional brain abnormalities, this issue has not yet been clarified. Methods We compared women with AN (n = 31), well-recovered female participants (REC) (n = 18) and non-patients (NP) (n = 27) cross-sectionally. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed to compare neural responses to food versus non-food images. Additionally, affective ratings were assessed. Results Functional responses and affective ratings did not differ between REC and NP, even when applying lenient thresholds for the comparison of neural responses. Comparing REC and AN, the latter showed lower valence and higher arousal ratings for food stimuli, and neural responses differed with lenient thresholds in an occipital region. Conclusions The data are in line with some previous findings and suggest restitution of cerebral function with clinical recovery. Furthermore, affective ratings did not differ from NP. These results need to be verified in intra-individual longitudinal studies.

Brain Correlates of Eating Disorders in Response to Food Visual Stimuli: A Systematic Narrative Review of FMRI Studies

“…This comparison, when presenting sweet foods, extended the activation of the occipital regions to the hippocampus. Increased activity in occipital visual areas was also observed when comparing AN patients vs. AN-recovered patients, as demonstrated by Göller and colleagues [ 76 ]. A comparison between the two groups (AN and HC) showed that AN had higher BOLD responses compared to HC in the medial cingulate cortex (MCC), precentral gyrus (PrCG), PoCG and parietal areas and no significant group differences for the INS or AMG.…”

Harm reduction in severe and long-standing Anorexia Nervosa – part of the journey but not the destination. A narrative review with lived experience

“…Furthermore, although studies have identified neurochemical changes in the brain during severe disease (15), biological markers for objectively identifying SE-AN are lacking (16).…”

“…Whilst the relationship between structural brain differences and psychopathology remains uncertain, Walton et al's suggestion of a possible link between effects in the superior and inferior parietal gyrus to alterations in attention and "body-environment integration" is intriguing and complements a growing body of work on cognitive deficits in individuals with extremely low BMI (32).…”

Exploring the Brain’s Response to Food Stimuli in Anorexia Nervosa: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

“…Furthermore, whether the potential neural changes in response to food stimuli endure in individuals with a history of AN following weight restoration and symptom remission (REC) is still a matter of debate. While some studies propose that a reduced activity across diverse brain regions is present and persists in REC 9 and can be viewed as a trait factor, others suggest that alterations in neural responses to food stimuli observed during the acute phase of AN do not persist into the recovery phase 10 , thus representing a state phenomenon.…”