What can Cognitive Neuroscience Teach us about Anorexia Nervosa?

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex illness and highly challenging to treat. One promising approach to significantly advance our understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of AN involves developing a cognitive neuroscience model of illness. Cognitive neuroscience uses probes such as neuropsychological tasks and neuroimaging techniques to identify the neural underpinnings of behavior. With this approach, advances have been made in identifying higher order cognitive processes that likely mediate symptom expression in AN. Identification of related neuropathology is beginning. Such findings have led to the development of complex neurobehavioral models that aim to explain the etiology and persistence of AN. Future research will use these advanced tools to test and refine hypotheses about the underlying mechanisms of AN.

Reduced functional connectivity in the thalamo‐insular subnetwork in patients with acute anorexia nervosa

“…Despite high genetic heritability estimates [Kaye et al, ], our knowledge of the biological underpinnings of this devastating illness is very limited [Kaye et al, ]. The use of modern noninvasive neuroimaging techniques may allow a deeper understanding of AN [Kidd and Steinglass, ].…”

A Systematic Review of the Effects of Neuromodulation on Eating and Body Weight: Evidence from Human and Animal Studies

“…Functional MRI has advanced our understanding of the neural differences between people with ED and their healthy counterparts. Altered activity in the insula (Kim, Ku, Lee, Lee, & Jung, ) and abnormalities in the processing of rewards (Avena & Bocarsly, ; Bohon & Stice, ; Brooks et al, ; Dichter, Damiano, & Allen, ; Holsen et al, ; Stice, Spoor, Bohon, Veldhuizen, & Small, ) in addition to alterations in frontal regions have been reported (Brooks et al, ; Celone, Thompson‐Brenner, Ross, Pratt, & Stern, ; Hollmann et al, ; Marsh et al, ; Uher et al, ), and subsequent neural models of ED have been developed (Brooks, Rask‐Andersen, Benedict, & Schioth, ; Kidd & Steinglass, ; Marsh, Steinglass, et al, ; Steinglass & Walsh, ).…”

Follow‐up Assessment of Cognitive Remediation Therapy in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: A Pilot Study

“…In recent years, cognitive functioning has received increased attention as a possible factor in the development and maintenance of AN (Bühren, Holtkamp, Herpertz-Dahlmann, & Konrad, 2008;Kaye, Wierenga, Bailer, Simmons, & Bischoff-Grethe, 2013;Kidd & Steinglass, 2012;Treasure & Schmidt, 2013). Previous studies have reported weaknesses in cognitive flexibility (operationalized as set-shifting) and central coherence in AN, which might play a role in the compromise response to therapy and the poor prognosis (Danner et al, 2012;Shott et al, 2012;Tenconi et al, 2010).…”