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Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Assessing Activity-based Anorexia in Mice
Published on: May 14, 2018
Body checking as a behavioral link: a preliminary study assessing inhibition and its association to idiosyncratic
Lauren E Breithaupt1, Hannah Austin Payne2, Mark Rose3
1George Mason University, David King Hall, Room 086, 4400 University Drive, MSN 3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA; Huntercombe Hospital Edinburgh, Binny Estate, Ecclesmachan Road, Uphall EH52 6NL, UK.
Abstract:
Body checking (BC) is a behavioral feature of anorexia nervosa (AN), which is also present in obsessive-compulsive (OC) disorders. This study assessed whether increased body checking in AN patients correlated with deficits in cognitive inhibition. A battery of neuropsychological tests (the Ravello Profile), OC disorder measures, and the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) were administered to nine adolescent females being treated for AN at an in-patient hospital in Scotland, UK. Neuropsychological measures were assessed using composite variables. Body Checking prevalence was split into high and low category to compare across groups. A negative relationship between cognitive inhibition and idiosyncratic body checking was evident. Clinically, increased body-checking symptoms were related to OC symptoms. These findings provide preliminary evidence that idiosyncratic body checking in AN patients may indicate a similar neuropsychological profile found in those with checking behaviors in OCD patients.
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