The relationship between attention and avoidance coping in anorexia nervosa: functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

Background Numerous studies have demonstrated attentional control difficulties and high avoidance coping in patients with anorexia nervosa. Attention is a critical coping resource because it enables individuals to demonstrate self-control and complete goal-directed behaviours. Aims We aimed to examine whether attentional control difficulty is related to high avoidance coping, and investigate the neural underpinnings of attentional control difficulties in individuals with anorexia nervosa. Method Twenty-three patients with anorexia nervosa and 17 healthy controls completed questionnaires that assessed attention and coping, and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a go/no-go task. Results Patients with anorexia nervosa showed weaker attentional control, higher omission error rates and higher avoidance coping compared with healthy controls. Attentional control difficulty was associated with higher avoidance coping in both groups. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis showed less deactivation in regions representing internal mental processing, such as the praecuneus, cuneus and left lingual gyrus, during the no-go condition. Moreover, weakened deactivation of the left lingual gyrus was associated with higher commission error rate in the anorexia nervosa group. Conclusions Our results suggest that patients with anorexia nervosa may have difficulty in maintaining attention to external ongoing events because of disturbance from internal self-related thought, and support the notion that attentional control difficulties underlie the frequent use of avoidance coping in anorexia nervosa.

Neural correlates of a mindfulness-based intervention in anorexia nervosa

“…9 Through its effect on the DMN, MBI may be effective for reducing mind-wandering in patients with anorexia nervosa, whose attention is typically easily distracted by internal thoughts. 6 Overall, our results are consistent with those of numerous previous studies 4 and support our hypothesis that MBI lowers emotional arousal and fosters the detachment of the ‘self’ in anorexia nervosa patients. Our results are also in accord with the proposal that contemplative practice may have a protective effect on mental health by modulating DMN activity.…”

“…5 Moreover, our previous work demonstrated that anorexia nervosa patients have higher brain activity in the precuneus, a key node of the default mode network (DMN), while performing the go/no-go task, which suggests that they are attached to self-related thoughts. 6 Thus, a key question is whether MBI can successfully foster acceptance in patients with anorexia nervosa. To date, a few studies have reported effects of MBI on AN.…”

“… 5 Moreover, our previous work demonstrated that anorexia nervosa patients have higher brain activity in the precuneus, a key node of the default mode network (DMN), while performing the go/no-go task, which suggests that they are attached to self-related thoughts. 6 …”

The sight of one’s own body: Could qEEG help predict the treatment response in anorexia nervosa?

“…In addition, the differential activation of the gyrus lingualis and cuneus between groups in all three conditions may further suggest differences in attentional control and impairment from self-referential processing, as these structures are involved in attention and avoidance coping in anorexia fMRI studies by Noda and Isobe (2021) .…”

Changes in effective connectivity during the visual-motor integration tasks: a preliminary f-NIRS study

“…The VAN is involved in detecting and processing task-relevant stimuli, and stimulus-driven attentional control [ 52 , 53 ]. The results of our study indicated that as the task difficulty increased, the EC from the DAN to the VAN was significantly increased.…”