Compulsivity predicts fronto striatal activation in severely anorectic individuals

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder with high mortality.
• The etiology of AN remains largely unknown, despite research into its features.
• Behavioral rigidity, including weight control and thinness pursuit, is a hallmark of AN, resembling obsessive-compulsive behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the clinical feature of compulsivity in anorexia nervosa patients and regional brain activation.
• To compare brain activation patterns in severely anorectic women versus normal-weight controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare 12 severely anorectic women with 12 normal-weight female controls.
• A cue-reactivity paradigm involved presenting food cues (high/low calorie) and eating utensils.
• Voxel-based morphometry analyzed gray matter volume and cerebrospinal fluid, which were controlled for in subsequent analyses.

Main Results:

• Anorexia nervosa patients exhibited reduced gray matter volume and increased cerebrospinal fluid.
• Following high-calorie food cues, AN patients showed significant activation in the right caudate body and right precuneus.
• Compulsivity scores (obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts) predicted specific patterns of brain activation and deactivation in frontal and fronto-striatal regions.

Conclusions:

• The degree of compulsivity in severely anorectic individuals is associated with predictable activation and deactivation patterns within the fronto-striatal pathway.
• These findings suggest a potential neurobiological link between compulsivity and brain function in anorexia nervosa.