[Distortion of hunger and satiation in patients with restrictive anorexia nervosa]

The controlled study examined the distortion of hunger und satiation in 12 patients with restrictive AN (BMI = 14.0; SD: 1.78; age 27.4 years; SD = 10.5) and 13 healthy and not eating-disordered normalweight controls (BMI = 21.3; age 25.3 years; SD = 3.4) by visual confrontation with food stimuli in different states of nutrition. During fasting patients with AN describe less hunger-feelings. In contrast to healthy women pictures of food and the anticipation of the consumption of hot chocolate are not experienced enjoyable, but aversive. Visual confrontation of food has a satiable effect on anorexic patients. Healthy women, however, indicate a moderate decrease in hunger feelings. After eating ad libitum satiety of healthy women reach a plateau instead of further eating. Anorexic patients initially feel hungry, a stable level of satiety, however, cannot be obtained. The visual confrontation with food is experienced aversively and satiably. These results leads us to assume a cognitive allocation of satiation ratings. The dysfunctional cognitive allocation of satiation ratings may represent a mean to maintain a food-avoidance.