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Acute and Chronic Tactile Sensory Testing after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

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Intact sensory function in anorexia nervosa.

Galit Goldzak-Kunik¹, Rina Friedman, Marselo Spitz

¹Graduate Studies, University of Haifa, Israel. galitgk@gmail.com

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

|December 30, 2011

Summary

Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients do not exhibit widespread sensory-perceptual deficits. Gustatory function is generally intact, with few observed differences potentially linked to food-related anxieties rather than sensory impairments.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Sensory Perception

Background:

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is often associated with sensory deficits, including taste anhedonia and muted hunger/pain, contributing to self-starvation.
However, research has primarily focused on these specific deficits, potentially overlooking broader sensory-perceptual functioning in AN.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if sensory-perceptual dysfunctions in AN are specific or part of a wider pattern.
To investigate gustatory senses independently of ingestion to differentiate sensory from affective deficits.

Main Methods:

Compared 15 adolescent restrictive anorexia nervosa (AN) patients with 15 healthy controls.
Assessed gustatory stimuli (taste/odor intensity and hedonics), size estimation, cold pain, and auditory/visual processing.

Main Results:

AN patients showed no significant differences in most sensory tests compared to controls.
AN patients demonstrated superior odor recognition but poorer central auditory processing and oral size/shape assessment.
Increased cold sensitivity and no correlation between body-image dissatisfaction and size estimation were noted.

Conclusions:

No systematic sensory-perceptual deficit pattern exists in anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, including gustatory function.
Observed minor differences may stem from food-related fears or comorbid conditions, not primary sensory impairments.