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Assessing Activity-based Anorexia in Mice
Published on: May 14, 2018
Increased capacity to delay reward in anorexia nervosa
Joanna E Steinglass1, Bernd Figner, Staci Berkowitz
1Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA. js1124@columbia.edu
Summary
Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) demonstrate enhanced self-control, showing less delay in monetary reward receipt compared to healthy individuals. This suggests self-control in AN extends beyond food, potentially maintaining restrictive behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with excessive self-control and avoidance of palatable foods, leading to severe weight loss.
- This behavior suggests underlying disturbances in reward processing and self-control mechanisms.
- Understanding the nature of self-control in AN is crucial for developing effective treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether individuals with anorexia nervosa exhibit enhanced self-control.
- To examine self-control by assessing the tendency to delay gratification for monetary rewards.
- To explore the relationship between self-control and reward processing in AN.
Main Methods:
- A monetary intertemporal choice task was administered to underweight individuals with AN (n=36) and healthy controls (HC, n=28).
- The task measured the delay discounting factor, quantifying how much the subjective value of a reward decreases over time.
- Statistical analyses compared discounting rates between AN and HC groups, with secondary analyses for AN subtypes.
Main Results:
- Individuals with AN showed significantly less temporal discounting of monetary rewards compared to HC (p=0.029).
- The restricting subtype of AN exhibited particularly pronounced reduced discounting (p=0.006).
- These findings suggest enhanced self-control in AN, extending beyond food-related behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Some individuals with AN display enhanced self-control, characterized by reduced temporal discounting of rewards.
- This heightened self-control is not limited to food and may contribute to the maintenance of persistent food restriction.
- Neuropsychological characteristics supporting delayed reward may play a role in the pathology of anorexia nervosa.
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